THE PILGRIM HAWK

Since The Grandmothers Wescott has done nothing of popular interest, and this also will scarcely qualify for the big market, although a few here and there will be greatly taken by it. Elliptic and elusive, this interlude in the form of a novelette recalls most clearly Kay Boyle's recent The Crazy Hunter, in which the borderline between the animal and human, actual and symbolic, is almost imperceptible. In leisurely, suggestive prose Wescott tells a savage story of limited import but great fascination. It is that of the Cullens, an Irish couple, self-engrossed, cold and jaded, wandering around the world -- adopting bizarre fads and pastimes. Mrs. Cullen's most recent innovation is her falcon hawk, a hawk which becomes her symbol as well as her hobby, paralleling and provoking the empty relationship of her marriage. And by the close the hawk has propelled the situation to a violent crisis. Rarified, a little decadent, a little repellent, this is nonetheless beautifully handled.