Book Review -- "No Way But Gentlenesse: A Memoir of How Kes, My Kestrel, Changed My Life."

     The book that I am reviewing today is a book about many different and important ideas all centered around one man's life.    Richard Hines was born and raised in a mining town in Yorkshire.  His brother is the novelist Barry Hines.
     Life wasn't always easy for the author growing up.  As he relates in this memoir, he always felt that his mother favored his brother over him.  Richard also was forced into going to a different school than his brother because Richard didn't perform well on a test given to students in the UK.  The outcome of the test determined whether a student would go to what was essentially a college preparatory school or a school for those who weren't deemed as smart.
     As you will see in the book, the school Richard attended wasn't a place one looked forward to going each morning.  It seemed to me that none of the students were looked upon has having great potential by the teachers.
    In these circumstances, the author became interested in falconry, and he read all of the books that he could find on the subject.  Eventually, Richard found a young kestrel whom he named Kes, and his relationship with the bird changed his life.
     Much of the book relates how Richard used gentleness and respect to train his kestrel.  Richard's brother Barry would use his brother's relationship with Kes as the basis for his famous novel "A Kestrel For A Knave" that was also made into a successful film called "Kes"
     When filming began on "Kes", Richard was brought on as the falconer.  He trained three more kestrels for use in the film.   This forms an interesting part of the book because it gives the reader insight into the film world and how a movie is made.
     Because of his relationship with Kes, Richard was motivated to study and eventually obtain a degree becoming a teacher.  Later, Richard would become a documentary filmmaker detail the social conditions of those living in mining communities.
     I enjoyed this book because it shows how one event in a person's life can turn everything around.  One event can become the centering point for the future.  I also enjoyed the author's descriptions of caring for and training his kestrels and later the merlin falcon that he owned.
     I definitely would recommend this book.  It is an excellent memoir and well-written.