A review by lrmsreads
H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

3.0

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald is a memoir about walking through grief. Helen's father died unexpectedly and her grief led her to one of her earliest passions, falconry. She decided to train one of the most difficult birds for falconers, the goshawk. Focused on both her grief, her experience training Mabel and the guidance she received from The Goshawk by T. H. White, this book takes us through some of Macdonald's darkest days. Her story is ultimately a triumph. And though I am not a bird person, I could feel the majesty of Mabel and feel the tenderness and beauty in their relationship. On the other hand, I did find the stories about T. H. White's experience intriguing at first, but then it became tiring for me. While this book is full of beautiful prose, I also frequently found my mind wandering maybe because I don't love nature writing. As I read it, I also found myself thinking about Wild by Cheryl Strayed, but it didn't quite have the impact on me as Wild did.