“She turned her head and fixed me with her brilliant yellow eyes. She looked right into me. And suddenly I knew then, in that one moment, I was as much part of her world as she was of mine.”
Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis is a beautiful book about love, loss and conservation.
A story about friendship, bullying, being different and accepting the differences of others.
A reminder that very often we are all more the same than we are different.
A lesson in following your own heart and mind rather than being led by others.
A tale of nature, how all living things are connected and the power of animals to bring humans together.
The story is set on and around a farm in the Scottish highlands. The farm where Callum and his family live. A farm on a loch that is great for fishing and also home to a magnificent secret.
Callum makes friends with Iona, a girl that none of his friends like because she is different. She has been abandoned by her mother and lives with her grandfather who is not really able to properly care for her. Callum is drawn to her fiery, independent nature and her gentle, nurturing side that is shown through her wonderful way with nature. Iona and Callum bond over a very special secret and they become close. Callum and his family care for Iona and start to spend more and more time with her.
Iona has discovered an Osprey and a nest, an eyrie, on Callum’s land. The rare bird of prey would be in danger if anyone found about him. The danger is magnified when a female Osprey arrives from warmer climes and the pair mate and produce a baby Osprey. Iona keeps a close eye on the beautiful birds and swears Callum to secrecy as she teaches him about their ways. The two friends name the female Osprey, Iris, after the goddess of the wind and sky.
One day the pair realise that they cannot safely keep their secret any longer. The Osprey is in danger as they have got caught up in fishing wire. The children speak to Callum’s Dad who calls Hamish, a warden at the local nature reserve. Hamish helps the children to rescue the Osprey, give her a health check and set her free again this time with a small tracker so that the children and Hamish will always know where she is. The secret now has a few more keepers and the Osprey a few more guardians.
Not long after meeting Hamish, tragedy strikes when Iona falls ill and suddenly dies. Callum is engulfed by grief for his friend and a powerful attachment to Iris and a need to keep her safe, for himself and for Iona.
Soon it is time for Iris to head to Africa for the winter. Callum is able to follow her journey online with the tracker. His old friends learn about the Osprey and they help Callum to follow her flight and learn to live with his grief for Iona.
Throughout the book the characters develop and change. Callum and his friends are so much more grown up by the end of the story. One is even prepared to make a great sacrifice of something that is precious to him in order to try to save the life of a stranger from the other side of the world.
Iris’ journey to Africa is not an easy one and the bird runs into trouble. Callum and his friends make contact with a little girl in Africa who helps them to find Iris and help her heal from an old injury so that she is able to make the return flight to Scotland.
The little girl that helps Iris is very ill in hospital and the children unite their community in raising money to fly the little girl to England for life saving surgery.
The secret of the Osprey is out but for a good reason, a life or death reason. Callum has honoured Iona in his actions and helped to save the life of his African friend.
There is so much to this story of friendship, loss and grief. So much about nature and protecting wild animals, conserving their habitats and how through helping the wild we very often help ourselves and each other.
Gill Lewis writes so beautifully about the Scottish and African landscape. Her descriptions of the Osprey are pure poetry. And the raw emotion in her characters means that you very quickly engage with them and invest in their stories.
This is a wonderful book. One that made me cry at several points but also gave me hope for a future where we as a species will make good choices to be kind to one another and protect the beautiful planet we live on and all we the beautiful creatures we share our Earth with.
We were sent a copy of the book in return for an honest review