Category: Memoirs

Five words from the blurb: author, hire, famous, shadowy, glamorous

Andrew Crofts is a successful ghostwriter. He has published over 80 books, many of which have been best sellers. I agreed to review this book because he has had a fascinating career – working with celebrities, world leaders and ordinary people who’ve lived extraordinary lives. Unfortunately the nature of his work means that many of his clients deny his existence and much of his past is shrouded by confidentiality agreements.

Writing a book in someone else’s voice allows the ghostwriter to abdicate responsibility for anything that is said. The release from that responsibility compensates for the inability to express your own views. In one way it makes it easier to tell a story dramatically and to introduce readers to the personality of the subject, but it is also an act of cowardice, a way of hiding behind the mask. It makes it much easier to express outrageous opinions, to justify shocking behaviour, if you are using someone else’s voice and letting them face any hostile responses that might come from readers.

Crofts is clearly a talented writer. His story was engaging and packed with a light humour that made it a joy to read. Unfortunately this book was ruined by the secrets.  I became frustrated by the repeated introduction of interesting scenes which could not be completed because they might give away the identity of the client. Personal details about interactions with a ghost writer would have been interesting, but this book rarely got further than an initial greeting with an unnamed celebrity.

The book also had a fragmented nature. Most chapters were only a couple of pages long and seemed more like introductions to potential novels (each of which would have been great) than stories that could stand up on their own.

There were lots of interesting little snippets of information about life as a ghostwriter, but I’m afraid the confidentially agreements ruined this book. Such a shame as I think Andrew Crofts has had one of the most diverse and exciting lives I’ve ever come across.

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Five words from the blurb: goshawk, taming, grief, nature, process

H is for Hawk gives an account of the winter in which the author acquires and trains Mabel, a young goshawk. This period of time coincides with the death of Helen Macdonald’s father so there is an emotional rawness that penetrates everything. Much of her grief is reflected in her attitude towards Mabel and these heightened emotions are beautifully described.

The writing in this book is excellent. I don’t have a special interest in birds, but Helen Macdonald managed to captivate me with her simple story. Emotion bounces from the page and I could vividly imagine every scene she describes:

The landscape is changing before my eyes. What I see is not just winter moving onwards to spring; it is a land slowly filling with spots and lines of beauty. There’s a brittle sun out on the hill this lunchtime, and a fresh westerly wind. Mabel’s pupils shrink to opiated pinpricks as I unhood her, both of her eyes narrow with happiness.

The English countryside has a special place in the heart of this book and I think any nature lover will enjoy reading about the wide variety of flora and fauna. There were some scenes in which the hawk hunts prey. I was impressed by the concentration and speed of these birds and found these scenes exhilarating, but some might find their graphic nature disturbing.

H is for Hawk also includes information about TH White, a man who wrote a book on falconry in the 1930s. It was interesting to see how their lives mirrored each other, but I found these sections less interesting – probably because they lacked the intense emotion of the rest of the book.

Overall this was an impressive book that gave me a new respect for those who train birds of prey. Not much happens, but this didn’t matter as the simple tension of the bird’s unpredictable behaviour was enough to hold my attention. Recommended to anyone who enjoys nature writing.

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