Where did you find yourself drawn to Helen in sympathy or empathy? Were there times when you found her less sympathetic?

Helen has lost her father and is grieving. Where did you find yourself drawn to her in sympathy or empathy? Were there times when you found her less sympathetic? If yes, when?

When Helen tried to figure out how to handle her sadness she turned to books that told of running to nature to escape, not to people. As an introvert I handle feelings in the same way. Not successfully, I might add.
I cannot understand taking a creature from the wild. Even for their own good, captivity took something from the condors.

i found myself being very empathetic to Helen. I have suffered the loss of my father, as well as others who were very close to me and who I cherish dearly. I recognized that this is her story and have written the book she has learned to cope with her loss - although I know the loss is always there. There were times that I felt Helen appeared to be immature in her approach to others around her. In the end I felt the book almost became a "coming of age" story. The story of a woman who confronted her own nature, her own fears and began to see the world in a more varied and mature way.

I found myself drawn to Helen with the initial shock of loss. I lost that empathy though as she seemed to wallow in her grief with little focus on those around her. Just Helen and Mabel. It seemed to take her a long time to come to the realization that those around her could help with her sorrow and help lead her through it.

Honestly, the times I was least empathetic to her were when her hawk was escaping to private land upon which Helen was not supposed to be trespassing and the hawk is poaching the pheasant and rather than own up to the incident, Helen kind of runs away, her "conscience ringing in her ears". It seems like a small thing, but I believe in taking responsibility for your mistakes. Similarly when she went to pick up her hawk and convinced the seller that she had to have Mabel even though another person had bought her. These are small incidents, but they diminished my overall empathy for Helen. And because I didn't empathize that much with her, I found I didn't love the book despite the absolutely breathtaking writing.

I do really like, JoanP's comment thought about turning to nature for peace . . .I've always found the outdoors to be soothing and can relate to the desire to bond with nature during this time of mourning.

Drawn both in sympathy and empathy - Sympathy with the sudden loss of a beloved father & with the loss, hurt, sudden life changing event; empathy with her struggles and road to recovery.

In the beginning i was sympathetic with moments of frustration when she became angry with people trying to help her. The gaps in how she dealt with her life in comparison with the exacting details of training Mabel created an imbalance that I couldn't understand. This only increased my lack of sympathy. How can someone let bills pile-up for possibly almost a year? How did she buy the critters to feed Mabel, petrol, etc?