The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London
Written and Narrated By: Christopher Skaife
Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
Ravens definitely don’t care that you have dinner reservations!
I thought going in that The Ravenmaster written and read by Christopher Skaife was going to be a few anecdotes and a lot of routine drudgery. Not that that was enough to keep me away, obviously. I wanted to listen to it.
What a surprise and delight then that it turned out to be magic storytelling by a master storyteller. Skaife fleshes out stories of the ravens at the Tower of London with those of his own colorful life. He began life as a soldier at only 16 1/2 years old, served for over two decades then went on to become Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, Ravenmaster. His life in the army gave him a sense of home and of family, something he felt was lost after he retired.
He soon found that sense again among the ravens. There are currently seven ravens living at the Tower of London (there have to be at least six living there or the city will fall… kinda a heavy weight on the man’s shoulders, no?), and each bird is described with love and warmth. Their lives are discussed, and the deaths of some of them are wept over. Merlina wound up being my favorite, which is rather unfortunate as Skaife states that she is the most “humanized”, imprinted, bird of the lot. Turns out that I like that about animals, the friendlier the better, the sweeter their stories happen to be to me. …So sue me…! Merlina appears to be bonded to her Ravenmaster, but this doesn’t keep her from being a mischief-maker. It is she who doesn’t care that Christopher has reservations for a birthday dinner: the man broke a cardinal rule! NEVER mess with a raven’s routine! It’s a hilarious little story with disastrous and muck-ridden results.
Interspersed throughout the book are stories of deployment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a story of the Falklands, some sleuthing to determine where the story regarding the fall of London should the ravens leave came from, and a great many wonderful, wonderful stories about the history of England, London in particular. Perhaps you haven’t noticed it, but I do so love history!
Time just flew by as I listened to The Ravenmaster! It felt as though I were in the drafty Tower, listening to a great man relaying with wry wit and much intelligence fine history and grand stories about grand birds.
For my “Animals” pick of the week, I can’t recommend this audiobook highly enough. What a find!
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