The Falconer

by Elaine Clark McCarthy

"Do I remember that first sight of him clearly now, after all that has been? I should have been struck speechless. I should have swooned. Instead, I walked toward him quite calmly, or I thought I was calm. Yet I do remember wondering if I had combed my hair that morning. I do remember being glad I had worn a bra and wishing it were not so plain and businesslike. And I remember thinking of one more thing to add to my 'before I die' list - not the list I'd written out of things a person can actually arrange on purpose, but the mental list of things I would most likely die without: passion. It is a measure of how dazzled I was that I completely failed to see any significance in such a thought at that particular moment." And so begins The Falconer, a stunning love story set in the Sierra Nevada mountains, about two ordinary people whose lives are transformed by love. India Blake realizes that she has let her life pass in dutiful commitments, without living fully, without achieving her dream of adventure and love. And then she meets Rhodri, a master falconer who teaches her how to fly falcons - and with whom she discovers the passion and deep connection she has been missing.

Genres: Fiction, Romance

Audio Cassette

First published April 23, 1996

Reviews

[Shawna Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

my all time favorite book. you either identify with it or you don't. the author is a poet so the wording is just beautifully mastered. I love the story. I read it once a year becuase it is that good....

[Moosehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just bought this little gem on Kindle, more than a decade after reading it for the first time. It's lyrical and beautiful and short; one of my all time favourites.

[Lanelibrarylady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this YEARS ago...beautiful, simple love story about a woman who is dying of cancer, and makes a list of things she'd like to do before she dies. Flying a falcon is one, and with the unlikely help of the odd, quiet falconer, she realizes her life has been full of tragic missed opportunities. The story has "Bridges of Madison County" undertones...what can I say...I am a hopeless romantic at heart.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the saddest stories I have ever read, heartbreaking really. What an amazing love story. I highly recommend it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written novella (I'm sure it's a novel, but it was a quick read for me) with brilliant lyricism, which is what I expected from McCarthy. While McCarthy captures the awe of falconry through prose (with a poet's knowledge of imagery), I think a novel that wants to capture a tender love story cannot begin to fathom knowledge of a truncated life or a marriage sans romance novel-worthy fireworks in explicit detail. Do not come to this novel with those expectations. Dying of cancer—or any illness where treatment and disease cause so much grief to psyche and physiology is difficult to treat with lyric prose. And the intricacies of marriage (no matter the state of love) are never that simple.
However, McCarthy's treatment of Falconry is spot-on. She did her research. She caught my elation at letting a hawk fly to hunt and even many Falconers' opinions on why it is a sport (a hawk or eagle is always wild and may never come back after a hunt). There is the thrill of letting someone you love soar out in the hopes that she flies back to your fist, and the pitted knot in your throat as you watch her soar out wings beating to the same pitched rhythm as your heart.
Kudos for McCarthy's prose. I like my prose as lyric as it comes though, so I am biased.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romanzo tanto breve quanto intenso, in cui una donna (ri)scopre la passione amorosa alla fine della vita.
L'Autrice ci conduce così sul confine tra la Terra intrisa di terrificante sofferenza, ed i Cielo, capace di liberarla dalla sua prigione di dolore.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing but sad, about life, death and living

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short love story, made me cry, but I knew it would from the beginning.

[Chrissi Witkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very profound love story; we should all be so lucky.

[Francesca Lamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time. Beautifully written.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!

[Audrea Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this many years ago...and it left an impression...I remember not wanting the book to end

[Elaine Cougler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Falconer by Elaine Clark McCarthy reminds me of The Bridges of Madison County only the sadness is more immediate. A beautiful love story.

[Molly Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read this book 4 times. Each time, I get something new out of it. This time, I read it from the perspective of connection with nature.

[Katelynn Tigert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet; very, very sweet.

[Laura Scribner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a delight to read, more emotion than plot but gripping all the same.

[Lora Shouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Falconer is a small gem of a book –part story of the final days of India Blake Davern and part the story of the romance she finds with a man who flies falcons for a hobby in those final days. The writing is misty and poetic. The book is short and tells its tale in alternating flashes of past and present.

India has been trying to get away from the town in the Sierra foothills where she grew up since she was a child. She was kept at home first by her mother’s tales of what might happen to a runaway girl child, then by her mother’s lingering death from cancer. Now she is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who has had a succession of lovers.

Not yet forty, she has just received her own diagnosis of cancer. No lingering death for her; she is given less than six months to live.

She begins planning a list of the things she would like to do before she dies. Not the grandiose list of great adventures a lot of people make, but things she thinks she might actually be able to do. She thinks about watching hawks fly, and when she overhears somebody mention that there might be someone not too far away who flies falcons, she fixes on that idea as a place to begin her list. She will fly a falcon.

So, she meets Rhodri MacNeal. He shows her his falcons. She returns again and again, and he teaches her how to fly them. And she falls in love. They fall in love.

[Pam Linge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was scanning the library shelf for Cormac McCarthy and didn't find what I wanted, but this "Falconer" title jumped out at eye level and given my interest in birding I pulled it out and quickly skimmed the synopsis. In the mood for a short, interesting story, I checked it out. It was a quick read, and as others may have mentioned, it's Bridges of Madison County meets H is for Hawk. The protagonist was relatable and sympathetic, the descriptions of falconry were informative and the way India experienced her illness was noble. My only critique would be that I occasionally had a hard time tracking certain scenes, as if a sentence were missing. Also, the author switched between first and third person in various chapters, but I need to review to better understand the pattern.

I found this very readable and filled with just enough tragic romance to be compelling.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recently, The Falconer was highly recommended on a Facebook site that I follow. I then ordered a copy from ThriftBooks, as my local library had long since withdrawn its only copy.

Well, I should have saved my money. Mercifully, as the book was a mere 134 pages, I wasted only an hour or so of my life. The story was utterly ridiculous, the flowery prose was nauseating, and any comparisons to The Bridges of Madison County cannot be ignored.

[Sini Pasanen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ostin tän kirpparilta eilen. Tää vaikutti hyvältä joten halusin lukea sen. Alotin ja lopetin sen tänään.

Oli kaunis kirja! Luon muiden arvosteluja ja jengi sano että tää oli niiden lemppari kirja, ja enkä ihmettele sekunttiakaan. Jotenki haluun vaan mennä itkemään nyt. Rhodri oli aivan ihana... Mä haluun tollasen miehennnn tai naisennn. Kaunis.

[Julia Bennett-Everington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully crafted story about a dying woman whose final wishes lead her to a falconer.
It’s one of those books that truly draws you in. You take those last months with the character. You can almost feel the air beneath the falcons wings as you chase the words. You experience her sadness and her joy.
I just loved it.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was a book we found in our book case that no one knew where it came from?? I enjoyed the writing style and made me reflect on people dealing with cancer and the end of life issues. Enjoyed.

[Elías Verité · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia de amor breve, pero cargada de sentimientos y melancolía. India tiene cáncer muy avanzado. Pero conoce a Rhodri (un halconero). Ese tiempo breve que pasan juntos hace que India cambie su forma de ver la vida.

[Irene Chow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out in 1996. I was a big fan of romance back then but now not so much. I could not get this book out of my mind so I decided to reread it, and I still love it even though it is a love story. I highly recommend this book

[Shadoshard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first romance book I ever read and the saddest one since.

What do you do when you find out you're going to die?

You go and live...

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this take on death, also the falcon information was interesting, happy ending if you believe in an after life (no matter your religion).

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tears of joy, sorrow and awakening fill my eyes as I write this review. I’m overwhelmed in gratitude for finding this book, it stands as a reminder to cherish every moment and to continue dreaming.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet love story.

[andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome first book...I really love the writing...

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that really surprises.