The Plume Hunter

THE PLUME HUNTER follows the life of Fin McFaddin, a late nineteenth century Oregon outdoorsman who takes to plume hunting – killing birds to collect feathers for women’s hats – to support his widowed mother. At 17 he sets out with his best friend to make his fortune. In 1885 more than five million birds were killed for the millinery trade in the U.S. alone. The decline of so many bird species was the impetus for the formation of the Audubon Society. In THE PLUME HUNTER, Renee Thompson brings to life an era of our country’s natural history seldom explored in fiction, and reveals the lives, motivations, and changing passions of young hunters. The novel is also a moving story of friendship and love, as we follow Fin’s relationships with his lifelong friends and the hunters he meets in the backcountry.