The Pilgrim Hawk: A Love Story — Glenway Wescott

This powerful short novel describes the events of a single afternoon. Alwyn Tower, an American expatriate and sometime novelist, is staying with a friend outside of Paris, when a well-heeled, 
itinerant Irish couple drops in -- with Lucy, their trained hawk, a restless, sullen, disturbingly totemic presence. Lunch is prepared, drink �,ows. A masquerade, at once harrowing and farcical, begins. 

A work of classical elegance and concision, The Pilgrim Hawk stands with Faulkner's The Bear as one of the finest American short novels: a beautifully crafted story that is also a poignant evocation of the implacable power of love.