BIRDS OF A FEATHER: DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, JOANNA TROLLOPE/THE SUFFOLK COAST

Anyone planning a break on the Suffolk coast will find reading Joanna Trollope’s Daughters-in-Law the perfect scene-setter for their trip.  This story about a mother-in-law’s complex and fraught relationship with her three daughters-in-law is mainly set around the portion of the Suffolk coast between Shingle Street near Orford and RSPB Minsmere, a haven for birdwatchers.  It certainly brought back happy memories of a break my husband and I spent in the area a few years ago.



The most pivotal part of the story, in which one of the daughters-in-law, Petra, meets someone, risking a break-up to her marriage, takes place at the RSPB Minsmere bird reserve, to which Petra, who is keen on drawing birds, escapes for the day when feeling the heat in her relationship.  She takes herself off to commune with the avocets “picking their fastidious way around the Scrape” and observes the ‘other man’, RSPB ranger Steve, moving around among the marram grass and sand dunes and “silhouetted against the shining water”.   

Minsmere - geograph.org.uk - 321676. Photo by Mike Pennington, via Wikimedia Commons

Another location which forms part of the story, also good for observing birdlife, is the hamlet of Shingle Street near Orford, where Petra sets up home with husband Ralph in his cottage “right on the shingle”, before later moving to Aldeburgh.  Later in the story it is revealed that Steve lives in Shingle Street, where he has a whitewashed cottage “sunk deeply into the beach”. 



The other Suffolk coastal location which looms large in the story is the town of Aldeburgh.  The parents-in-law live in a house near there, and Petra and Ralph move from Shingle Street to the town part-way through the story.  We have Petra taking her kids into town to escape from Ralph’s moods, past the cottages with names like Shrimper’s Cottage or Mermaid Cottage.  The famous scallop shell sculpture on the beach, commemorating Benjamin Britten, gets a mention elsewhere in the story, as well as the southern end of town “where the tall seafront terraces petered out into the marshy stretches of mingled river and sea”.

The mouth of the River Alde at sunset

Aldeburgh is a characterful seaside town just north of the mouth of the River Alde, which is at its best at sunset, when the river gleams in the orange glow of the setting sun.  The High Street, as hinted at in the novel, is a pleasant mix of small shops, galleries, restaurants cafes and pubs.  Benjamin Britten lived in Crag House in the town from 1947, hence the aforementioned commemorative sculpture.


RSPB Minsmere hosts a variety of birds in its coastal lagoons, such as the slender avocet, bearded tits and bitterns.  There are also otters present in the reedbed pools.  The reserve is close to the Sizewell nuclear power station, and sadly recent reports suggested that the planned Sizewell C station could threaten the future of the reserve.  This weekend the RSPB is holding a Love Minsmere festival to raise awareness of the concerns.  Shingle Street is another favourite with birdwatchers, and recent sightings have included Western Cattle Egret, American/Pacific Golden Plover and Red-Necked Phalarope. 

Map of Aldeburgh.