First-time author Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, takes readers inside his singular occupation as Ravenmaster, caretaker of the seven corvids who call the Tower home.
According to legend, if all the Tower's ravens ever desert it, the fortress will fall and Great Britain itself will face peril. To stave off this fate and also entertain the millions of visitors to the Tower each year, the landmark maintains a small unkindness of the intelligent, mischievous birds. Part tour guide and part gamekeeper, Skaife lives at the Tower and bears responsibility for the health and happiness of its feathered occupants. In bite-size chapters more akin to essays, he offers anecdotes about the raven roster, including Munin, the so-called Black Widow, and Merlina, the friendliest toward humans and a frequent focus of Skaife's social media posts. Readers will also receive an entertaining education on the history of the Tower's ravens, life as a Yeoman Warder, the Tower's many rumored hauntings and the exploits of the foxes with whom the Ravenmaster maintains an uneasy truce.
Skaife's essays work well as both armchair travel and odd job exploration. His 13 years of leading tour groups through the Tower show in his breezy, tongue-in-cheek style. His passion for his winged charges and their storied abode shines through in each factoid and reminiscence. Readers unable to make a trip to London will find The Ravenmaster worth the price of admission. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services manager, main branch, Dayton Metro Library, Dayton, Ohio