Helen Macdonald narrates H Is for Hawk audiobook about grief and a goshawk

H Is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald’s memoir of training a Eurasian goshawk after the sudden death of their father, is available as an audiobook narrated by Macdonald. This month the book is also being adapted for the big screen in a new film starring Claire Foy.

Published about 12 years ago and showered with awards, the book was a runaway hit that helped spark a trend in animal-centric memoirs. Macdonald, an experienced falconer who had previously trained kestrels and peregrines, took delivery of a temperamental young goshawk named Mabel with the aim of taming her and teaching her to hunt. Their narration is marked by introspection, curiosity and flashes of humour as they observe this "spooky, pale-eyed psychopath" who, besides feeding and flying, likes to play ball with scrunched-up bits of paper.

H Is for Hawk interweaves Macdonald’s experiences with biographical excerpts on T. H. White and his own 1930s attempts to train a bird using older, crueler methods; the review says Macdonald does a better job and that the sections conjuring the bird are where their prose truly soars. The audiobook is available via Penguin Audio and runs 11 hours 5 minutes, and the film adaptation starring Claire Foy arrives this month, leaving readers and listeners a chance to revisit the source material.

Key Topics

Culture, Helen Macdonald, Eurasian Goshawk, Mabel, Claire Foy, T. H. White