H is for Hawk

Synopsis: Helen Macdonald has written a memoir about her experiences training a goshawk while grieving her father’s unexpected death. Macdonald, an English historian and falconer, begins training a young goshawk named Mabel. Macdonald interweaves her own story with that of troubled author T.H. White (he of The Once and Future King fame) whose own book The Goshawk recounts his struggle to train his own hawk in the 1930’s. Through training Mabel, Macdonald initially retreats from the world but ultimately begins to heal from her grief, regaining a sense of trust and belonging as her bond with the goshawk grows.

Review: This was a bestseller, and won several awards including the Samuel Johnson Prize and others. I usually love non fiction and a good memoir, but I have to say, I struggled to connect with this book. I may be in the minority, but I kept waiting for it to get captivating, and it merely felt like a depressing lecture. I wanted to feel sympathy for Macdonald. I wanted to feel interested in Mabel. I felt neither. The process of training the hawk felt violent and Mabel herself (possibly the author as well) seemed full of rage. For the first time in a very long time, I put the book down after reading most of it, and decided not to finish. Life’s too short for books you don’t enjoy! Take my review with a grain of salt, most people seemed to love this book. I just wasn’t one of them.

Rating: 2/5

Recipe: It only seems fair to pair a meh book selection with a tried and true comfort food favorite. Trisha Yearwood’s chicken and broccoli casserole is a Southern classic. This would be a great dish to take to a grieving friend who is too busy training a goshawk to cook for herself! Don’t be offended by the condensed soup, we all need short cuts from time to time.

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 head of broccoli cut into florets

2 cups cooked white rice

one can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1) cook chicken and shred (or use a rotisserie chicken to make it even easier)

2) Cook the broccoli until about half way done (steam, boil, or your usual method)

3) Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray

4) Layer the bottom with cooked rice, then put broccoli on top

5) Mix the chicken soup, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, shredded chicken and half the cheese and pour over top of the broccoli. Top with remaining cheese

6) Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.