I bought a copy of this book a few years ago as a gift for my partner while I was on holidays in England. The cover is really striking, and being about falconry I thought my partner would really enjoy it. After he read it, I asked him what he thought. He agreed it was partly about falconry, but it seemed to also have a lot to do with the author’s own mental state. He thought maybe I might get a bit more out of it, but it sat on my bookshelf for absolute ages before I got a chance to get around to it.
“H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald is a non-fiction book about falconry. In her grief after her father’s sudden death, Macdonald rekindles an old hobby and buys herself a young goshawk. Part memoir, part biography, Macdonald juxtaposes her own experiences training a goshawk against those of English author T H White, whose own attempts over 60 years earlier were ultimately disastrous.
Macdonald is a wonderful nature writer who excels in finding beauty in the minutiae of the English countryside. Her depiction of the raw vigour of a bird of prey on the hunt throws Macdonald’s sorrow in stark relief. Macdonald marries the intensely personal with crisp academia and the result is an incredibly rich book.
One thing I found particularly interesting was the history of falconry. Macdonald explains that for centuries, the study of training birds of prey has relied completely on building trust and positive reinforcement. It’s amazing to me that this kind of thinking has only crossed over to the training of other animals such as dogs and horses in the past few decades. People still talk about “breaking” horses. This year I enrolled my dog into (desperately needed) obedience classes, and my local dog club is trialing new techniques with a very heavy focus on positive reinforcement. I really enjoyed drawing parallels between Macdonald’s work with her hawk and my work with my dog. The other thing I found really interesting is Macdonald’s quiet subversion as a female austringer in what was typically very much a man’s sport.
I could go on, but this is a fascinating, challenging and deeply personal read and I walked away from this book much more knowledgeable about goshawks, English literature and mental health.
Tinted Edges 
I’ve been going back and forth on whether to read this one, every review I come across seems to be love it or hate it. Excellent review!
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Thank you! It’s not an easy read, and some of the mental health and goshawk hunting is a bit confronting, but I think it really was a fascinating and beautifully written books.
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As you know I loved this book too, but it drew some very surprising, to me, responses from my reading group. I think I loved everything about it – the history and practice of falconry, the story of White and his goshawk, the reflections on her grief journey, and her gorgeous writing (particularly about nature). And, of course, I loved the cover. It’s such a beautiful book to look at, let alone the contents. (If you get a chance listen to her wonderful closing address at the 2015 Sydney Writers Festival. I found it inspiring. https://soundcloud.com/sydneywritersfestival/helen-macdonald-closing-address-on-looking-at-nature )
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Oh wonderful, Sue – thanks for the link! I’d love to hear her speak. I think you mentioned that some people were critical of her not being considerate enough of her mother’s grief? Were there any other surprising responses?
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No, the others were more as you might expect, that is to do with the detail about the falconry, either too much of it or too visceral. Stuff that fascinated me, and the keen birder in the group.
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such a lovely book. I learned a lot!
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I’m glad you liked it too! I thought comparing her experiences with White’s was a really clever approach
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pilgrim at tinker creek
that’s what I’m currently reading. You’ll like it if you liked H is for Hawk
xo
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