This stunning series of essays explores the bestselling author’s love of the non-human world

BOOK VESPER FLIGHTS

Six years ago, H Is for Hawk charged through the international bestseller lists and left its mark on nature writing with all the raw power of a goshawk in a forest. But instead of rushing out a follow-up, Helen Macdonald has since quietly focused on writing essays and features, often for the New Statesman or New Yorker. Forty are collected here, undated and without commentary, and they’re stunning.

If there’s a theme, it’s Macdonald’s love for the non-human world, and our complex relationship with other species and places. Her range is dizzying, however. Reminiscences from a rural Surrey childhood and thrilling encounters in the wild (glowworm nights, winter woods, swarms of flying ants) sit alongside explorations of cutting-edge science and trips overseas. Throughout, she makes unexpected connections: migraines and climate change, fungi forays and hunting.

Everywhere, phrases and ideas pull you up short. Paw prints in winter snow “can be read to rewind time”. Exploring our fascination with flocks of birds, Macdonald considers the plight of refugees: “In the face of fear, we are all starlings, a group, a flock, made of a million souls seeking safety.” There are unfashionable subjects too, such as a typically open-minded visit to a Staffordshire birdkeeper’s fair (a ‘workingclass’ institution ignored by most nature writers), with all its cages of fancy finches. Heartfelt, thought-provoking, brilliant.

Ben Hoare, author and naturalist