It tells the story of the author's attempt to follow along with the snow goose migration, from the Gulf of Mexico up to the frozen north of Canada. But with The Snow Geese, I'm quite confident that I caught all there was to catch, and it wasn't enough for me.

Snow Goose - AbeBooks The Snow Goose - AbeBooks

But as WWII looms large, Philip is unable to remain unaffected by the events happening around him and in a selfless act of courage, decides to play his part. It is a beautiful description of extraordinary affection between two people without that becoming a full-blown love affair. If you've sent us a Special Instruction, we will try our best to accommodate you, but we cannot guarantee where your table will be allocated.

But then a large part of the story centres around the Dunkirk evacuation from WW2 and unrequited love – military history and complex adult emotions aren’t really things I’d say pre-pubescent junior school kids would have any knowledge of. They are a beautiful little bird and the male is so colorful you won't believe your eyes when you first see one. We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, sell user information, or run ads.

Musty Books: “The Snow Goose” by Paul Gallico (1941) Musty Books: “The Snow Goose” by Paul Gallico (1941)

There’s far too much mawkish sentimentality over unspoken love, and tragic and needless death, and so on, but it felt manipulative of the author rather than genuine.

But even more stunning are Fiennes' portraits of the odd people he meets on the journey - hunters, train obsessives, birders and more.

Winter reads: The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

He successfully manages to link his longing to retuning home with the journey of the snow gooze and them instinctive drive to travel huge distances.

To anyone who is thinking about reading this amazing story you will be surprised at what it draws out of you. Afterwards, a German pilot destroys Rhayader's lighthouse and all of his work, except for one portrait Fritha saves after his death: a painting of her as Rhayader first saw her – a child, with the wounded snow goose in her arms.