Helen Macdonald is a master of writing about the natural world. I loved H is for Hawk so much and this collection didn't disappoint. I will clearly need to add this to my personal collection both for the writing AND for the gorgeous cover which goes alongside H is for Hawk so beautifully.

Written as assignments or for friends, “for the joy of exploring a subject, for piecing together a story or investigating something that troubled or fascinated”, the forty-some essays in Vesper Flights cover an array of naturalist topics – very often autobiographical, very often political – in the beautifully lyrical writing style of Helen Macdonald that would be instantly recognisable to fans of her acclaimed memoir, H is for Hawk. I was fascinated by the range of scientific topics here and inspired by Macdonald's travels – not only through space, from experiencing the top of the Empire State Building with an Ornithologist to camping in Chile's Atacama Desert with an Astrobiologist, but also sharing Macdonald's travels through her own interior landscapes – and it all solidly underpins her ultimate quest for “finding ways to recognise and love difference. The attempt to see through eyes that are not your own. To understand that your way of looking at the world is not the only one. To think what it might mean to love those that are not like you. To rejoice in the complexity of things.” Helen Macdonald has lived a rich and curiosity-filled life, and being a poet, a naturalist, and a historian, she has the factual knowledge and literary skills to make persuasive art out of her experiences.

I liked but did not love this diverse collection of essays about nature, plants, animals and humans' troubled relationship with the natural world. I think perhaps if I had been reading this slowly, in paper rather than as an e-book, I might have found it a more satisfying read. Nonetheless, a solid collection filled with interesting ideas and reflections.