Lovely writing, lovely descriptive passages of the countryside, but I just never connected with what was going on with Macdonald and her hawk. I think I should have, perhaps I'm cold-hearted, though I did connect with White, and what went on with him and Gos, I found those sections very moving.

And although Macdonald writes about the hunting and death as a sport, I struggled to forget that as I was reading. Her bird had been bred for people to enjoy flying and catching prey - a blood sport. I kept asking myself what I would feel if this was a book about Macdonald and a hound that she took out fox hunting. (I know it's not quite like that - they are in packs; there's not a connection between one person and a dog, but the principle is the same.)