Grove Press
March 2014
On Sale: March 3, 2015
Featuring: Helen Macdonald
282 pages ISBN: 1448130727 EAN: 9781448130726 Kindle: B00OV9D9AE e-Book Add to Wish List
When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconerβHelen had been captivated by hawks since childhoodβshe'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life.
Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry. Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.
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