Anything to distract you from the white heat of grief.īut Helen Macdonald took this one step further.Ĭonsumed with sadness after her father’s sudden death, she felt compelled to do something extraordinary. I would recommend H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald to anyone who is looking for a longtime favorite.When you lose somebody you love, throwing yourself into your work can be overwhelmingly tempting. It will give you a deeper appreciation for the blood, sweat, and tears that people put into these magnificent birds, as well as provide you with a thoughtful and riveting story that has no filter. It made it easy for me to relate to the author on that level.Įven if you aren’t into hawks like I am, I still recommend this book. Even on my worst days, there is something so satisfying about working with animals that can make everything seem okay. I have experienced this first hand by working with my horses. Even though a hawk may not come to mind at first, something you have to train and work with is a great way to keep active and stay occupied while grieving. With the loss of her dad breaking Helen’s heart, the best thing to help the healing process was clearly an animal. There are a few themes working together throughout the book: family, depression, and one goshawk named Mabel who helps turn Helen Macdonald’s world from darkness to light. I ended up finishing the book in three days. I’d already read 80 pages by the time we sat down to dinner that night. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald was recommended by a former falconer, and when we purchased the novel, I fell in love right away. I scoured the internet for days reading about them.

It never had a chance to collect a speck of dust.Īfter some falconers visited my school, I became obsessed with falconry. I am here to tell you this book is really moving. If the first few pages of a book don’t capture my attention, I will let it stay on my desk and collect dust. However, I am very picky about what I read, and I won’t recommend a book unless it is exceptional.

Tracy Fitzpatrick lives in Southern California with her incredibly supportive hubby, three fiercely independent and witty teenage daughters, two dogs, three horses, two cats, and a rabbit.

H is for hawk author