The story told in this strange and beautiful book is, at heart, a simple one. Helen Macdonald’s father died when she was in her mid-thirties; she missed him painfully; so, for reasons she could not entirely explain to herself, she decided to buy a baby goshawk and train the creature. In her own words: ‘I was in ruins. Some deep part of me was trying to rebuild itself, and its model was right there on my fist. The hawk was everything I wanted to be: solitary, self-possessed, free from grief, and numb to the hurts of human life. I was turning into a hawk.’

Aug 2014

He Went from Peak to Peak

Brod’s Bequest

Something to Sink Your Teeth Into

The Critic’s Critic

The Jeddah Gang

Plenty of Sex & Nowhere to Sit

In the Court of the Seelie King

Aria Rage

Rise to the Occasion

Escape Artist

Shades of Sin

Top Kat

Enfant Terrible

Civilising Influence

Use Your Illusions

Sadland

Arise, Sir Realist

Urra=hubbulu

In Praise of Asymmetry

Bewitched

The Third Man

And All That Jazz

Spellbound

When Blue Met Yellow

Not Just a Pretty Face

Sign Up to our newsletter

@Lit_Review

Last Tweets