'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald

H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald (4.0)

I recommend this book for some readers, but not for all. It is not plot driven, fast paced, nor action packed. That being said it is thoughtful and touching with beautiful writing. The book is a non-fiction account of Ms. Macdonald’s time coping with the sudden death of her beloved father. She turns to a hobby that brings her closer to him and mirrors her feelings during the mourning: training a wild goshawk for the sport of falconry.  As she describes the training of her hawk, Mabel, you feel her bonding with the bird based on the wildness of her grief. As she works through the training and her stages of mourning, the hawk’s progress is like a metaphor for her progress. At times I found her grief to be almost melodramatic, but I was assuming she was a middle-aged person. When I saw her picture later on a book jacket, I realized she is relatively young and she suffered both grief and shock, given the age of her father. If you have recently lost a loved one, this book may be cathartic. But my worry would be that the distinctive and haunting writing could open the wounds of your loss.