There is no correct way to grieve. Loss is so personal and can feel so unfathomable, that no response to it, however unorthodox or unusual, is ever wrong.
In their 2014 memoir, H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald details a year spent training a goshawk called Mabel following the death of their father. As a meditation on grief and the restorative power of wildlife and nature, the book was superlative.
The haunting, lyrical portrait became a bestseller, readers drawn in by the honesty and descriptive brilliance of Macdonald’s writing. A new film adaptation starring Claire Foy is equally captivating – steeped in sadness, but always edging towards the light.
“The privilege of my job is that you get to do these emotionally extreme things, which is sort of an exercise in life, in a way,” says Foy, when she meets Big Issue in Central London. “This film felt very truthful. And it felt very exposing in a way that was unique in anything I’ve ever done. I don’t really know what that is, and don’t know whether I want to find out. But it feels like a very significant thing for me as a person to do.”
Read the full interview in this week’s Big Issue – along with Helen Macdonald’s Letter to My Younger Self.
What else is in this week’s Big Issue?
Meet the 15-year-old girl leading a campaign to house homeless families
Local councils are struggling to keep up with the record number of homeless families living in temporary accommodation across the UK – but one inspirational teenager is offering a helping hand.
