Books by Helen Macdonald

Discover the number one bestselling phenomenon that is a powerful and profound mediation on grief expressed through the trials of training a goshawk. As a child, Helen Macdonald was determined to become a falconer, learning the arcane terminology and reading all the classic books.

The hawk was everything I wanted to be: solitary, self-possessed, free from grief, and numb to the hurts of human life. How do we carry on when someone close to us dies?

Cassiano dal Pozzo, (1588-1657) now celebrated as one of the most important art patrons in Italy of the seventeenth century, commissioned a number of exquisite studies of birds as part of his famous `Paper Museum¿. In 1622 the lawyer and ornithologist Giovanni Pietro Olina used these drawings which are now kept in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, as the basis for the illustrations in his Uccelliera . Pasta for Nightingales combines Cassiano¿s original artwork with selections from the first English translation of Olinäs text. It includes such enchanting insights as the idea that robins were epileptic, or suffered from dizziness, and that the hoopoe overindulged in grapes until it became `dazed and half-drunk.¿ However it also includes much fascinating early natural history and ornithological observation - as well as the secret recipe for pasta to keep your nightingale happy and encourage it to sing. A unique celebration of the beginnings of ornithology, designed in sympathy with the character of the 17th- century original.

Contains many fascinating facts about the world's fastest animal, including falcons in secret military projects and espionage; falcons nesting in the middle of cities; the history of the race to save the peregrine; and the colourful sport of falconry.

Helen Macdonald har altid vidst, at hun ville være falkoner, når hun blev stor. Som barn lærte hun alt, hvad der var at lære om at træne falke og læste alle de bøger, hun kunne opstøve om emnet. Da Helen Macdonalds far pludselig dør, rammes hun af en lammende sorg. Hun bliver besat af tanken om at træne sin egen duehøg. På en øde kaj i Skotland køber hun Mabel og bringer hende med sig hjem til Cambridge. Hun fylder fryseren med mad til høgen, slukker for sin mobiltelefon og isolerer sig så fuldstændigt for at koncentrere sig om det tålmodighedskrævende og mærkværdige arbejde med at tæmme og træne et vildt dyr. H for høg er en bog om dyr og mennesker, om omsorg, fortvivlelse og forvirring - men også en forbløffende beretning om om arbejdet med at tæmme en af naturens mest uregerlige skabnigner. "En bog som tager vejret fra dig." - New York Times Book Review