H IS FOR HAWK

by Helen Macdonald
 
H Is for Hawk appeared on many “best books of the year” lists for 2015 and it’s been on my “must read” list since then.  I want to spare all of you any further delay:  pick up this book today and read it.  It is an absolute treasure!  I can honestly state that I’ve never read anything quite like it.
 
Macdonald not only is a writer, but also a naturalist, a poet and a scholar at the University of Cambridge.  H Is for Hawk is her gut-wrenching, beautiful memoir of how she dealt with the abrupt death of her father – by training a goshawk.  Her struggles, both with her bereavement over her father, and the painstaking and all-consuming task of training a hawk are so palpably human, they will leave you breathless.  Her prose is poetic.  Her descriptions of the bird and its habitat and habits are so vivid and believable, they could only have been written by a naturalist.
 
In addition to telling her amazing story, she cleverly weaves in T. H. White’s experiences from 50 years earlier when he tried to tame a goshawk.  Macdonald makes the reader cringe as she describes the famous author’s questionable techniques.  She masterfully integrates his memoir throughout her book, which adds depth and pathos to her story.
 
I can’t recommend this book highly enough.  Read it and enjoy every morsel. (Liz)