The Last of Its Kind by Sibylle Grimbert, translated by Aleshia Jensen

In 1835, Gus, a young zoologist, is sent to Iceland by The Natural History Museum of Lille to study North Atlantic fauna. It is there he witnesses the bloody massacre of a colony of great auks. Amidst the violence, the curious researcher pulls a single wounded bird from the water, unaware that he has recovered what will eventually be the last of its kind. Gus brings the initially suspicious animal home with him to study it. Instead of a research specimen, he discovers the beauty and majesty of his new companion, who he names Prosp, and the pair eventually develop an endearing mutual affection.

Over the next fifteen years, Gus comes to realize that he is the close observer of something inconceivable: the extinction of a species. From there, a singular preoccupation is born, and the inevitable fate of his feathered friend eclipses everything else around him. Gus’s burgeoning understanding, wonder, and obsession around the disappearance of a species and humankind’s role in its erasure mirror some of our questions today about the future of the natural world and our place within it.

The Last of Its Kind is a story of friendship, trust, and respect, but also about the desire to endure and survive. With unparalleled mastery, Sibylle Grimbert illuminates the deep intelligence and emotion of our animal counterparts and asks the urgent question of what it means to love what will never be again.