Review: Lift

Lift
Author: Rebecca K. O'Connor
Publisher: Red Hen Press
ISBN: 978159709460
Audience: Older teen through Adult
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis (from publisher):

Captivated by a chance meeting with a falconer’s peregrine as a child, the indelible memory leads the author to flying a peregrine falcon of her own and discovering that the journey is not as much about training the falcon as what it is the falcon has to teach her. Exploring themes of predator and prey, finding tribe, forgiveness and femininity, "Lift" asks universal questions through the unique perspective of a woman chasing her heart in the wake of a wayward falcon.

My Comment:

From the time I read Jean Craighead George's "My Side of the Mountain" series, I fell in love with Frightful and wanted so badly to have a falcon of my own. As I got older, I had the pleasure of watching my brother's godmother nurse an injured Redtailed Hawk back to health. He was amazing but also a bit frightening. I never loss that awe for raptors and can still watch them for hours.

Imagine my excitement when I had the chance to review Rebecca K. O'Connor's "Lift". All centered around falconry, Rebecca's memoirs cover her first year of training her first falcon, Anakin. Anakin teaches Rebecca about relationships, patience, respect, forgiveness, trust, teamwork, faith, love, and wonderment. While she learns these things through her relationship with her bird, Rebecca also comes to terms with her past and the childhood she survived.

Rebecca's love for her bird and the sport pours from every page. Her descriptions take you into the field and you can feel the bird leave your presence as he flies so high up in the air, he looks like a speck. Then your heart plunges with the falcon as he drops to take his mark, making nature a true wonder. Her weaving of the lessons learned and the past events of her life and how she comes to terms with them, is brilliant!

I rated this book older teen through adult because of the subject matter of child abuse/molestation and sexual predators.

Please make sure to visit Rebecca's website at: http://www.rebeccakoconnor.com. There you will find some absolutely stunning photographs of Anakin as well as her other birds and dogs. You will also be able to find out about the talks she gives and other books and articles she has written, plus you will find the link her blog.

I received a copy of Lift from the Early Reviewer's program through Library Thing. This in no way has influenced my review of this book.