That Quail, Robert by Margaret Stanger: book review

That Quail, Robert (1966) is set in Cape Cod, America, from 1962 to 1966, in the home of the Kienzles. It is a true story.

The narrator is Margaret, the neighbour of retired Dr Thomas Kienzle and his wife Mildred who have a home in wild and rough terrain. Thomas and Mildred find a quail egg and put it on a bench in their kitchen. A few days later, the egg hatches into a fluffy shape the size of a walnut.

They call the quail Bobby White – known as Robert. His black fluffy feathers soon turn brown and he follows the sound of the two humans. When people hear about the birth, they tell the Kienzles that it will never live.

The Kienzles don’t cage Robert, nor handle him unnecessarily – he can wander about as he pleases, free to leave the house, free to fly away. But he stays with the Kienzles. The narrator Margaret, who visits frequently, says that the most incredible feature of his development is his emerging personality.

Robert is highly sociable – he greets all visitors, and enjoys the company of the Kienzle’s children and grandchildren. He loves the telephone, chirping into the mouthpiece. He loves shoes, is sensitive to colour, and curious about everything.

When the narrator and other neighbours babysit Robert, there is never a problem. He is the nicest and most grateful of all birds. And everyone learns so much from Robert. And then the Kienzles learn that Robert is a she.

This is the gorgeous biography of Robert, her growth, her personality, and her national fame.

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MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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