In February 2021, during the Pandemic in the UK, author Chloe Dalton comes across a newborn hare, a leveret and can't seem to find a mother for this little one. What would you do? Walk away and leave it to the mother to find her baby, leave it alone and let "nature" take it's course, or take it home and nurse it to health, making it a pet?

I am surprised how quickly I was drawn into this story, my interest in the leveret and the desire of Chloe Dalton to do the right thing by this creature. We humans (myself for sure!) want to make everything a pet without respecting the animal and its wants and desires as God created it and it's environment to be.

We follow Chloe and the leveret for several years and despite being an animal lover who loved this book, I can still highly recommend this story! I learned a few things from the author quotes she shared from authors through the centuries (yes some quite old quotes!)

My thanks to Net Galley and Pantheon for an advanced copy of this e-book.

When the Covid pandemic resulted in a lockdown in Britain, Chloe Dalton, a political advisor and frequent international traveler, decided to leave her place in London and go to the farm she had in the country, nothing fancy but a place she vacationed. Little did she know that this was to be a life altering experience in unexpected ways.

One day, while walking near her home, she happened upon a very small animal that appeared to be a hare, a baby hare, alone. Concerned about this susceptible creature, but also wary of interfering in a wild animal’s life, she waited to see if the mother would return. When she didn’t, Dalton’s adventure began and the seed of this delightful, insightful, often profound memoir was born.

The beauty of this book is watching as Dalton begins her experience of aiding a hare’s survival while trying not to interfere with its life as a hare. She uses instinct, book learning, the local vet. Instinct often seems the best. Her thoughts on coexistence of species continue to develop over time.

I highly recommend this book for its capture of the lives of the author and hare in an unusual co-existence, the descriptions of the natural world around Dalton’s farm, the life and activities of hares. I had no idea about hares!

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Pantheon for an eARC of this book. This review is my own

This memoir was in my top 10 reads of 2024 and I have not gone a week without thinking of the leverets and this magical story. Raising Hare is a moving encounter of human-animal connection chocked full of lessons which changed my brain. I especially appreciate that the hares this book center around were never held in captivity, a rarity when reading non-fiction about wildlife.

I cannot recommend Raising Hare highly enough, this fascinating memoir will enlighten you, give you all the cozy vibes and warm your heart.

Thank you, Chloe Dalton, for writing this beautiful story that I did not know I needed. I will love and cherish it forever.

As an owner of a rabbit, hares have always had a special place in my heart. Over the summer they are in my backyard hopping around with their families and it's literally better than any tv show on the air. You're wondering about their lives and what they do to survive our crazy planet. So when this book came out I knew it was one I wanted to read. It did not diappoint and made me love these mystical creature even more. The memoir is about the author'd experience of finding an abandoned baby hare which she brings home and starts to feed and nurture it. She knows she has to eventually let it go becuase it's a wild animal even though there are tons of predators to end it's life and imagine all of this happending during lockdown. A time when you were looking for something to connect with besides making bread or making pickles! The journey of how she finds it and the lessons we learn about hares is just spectacular. It's a happy but also a sad book about who we are and the creatures that share the world with us and how fragile we all are. This is a perfect book to enjoy a peaceful Saturday or Sunday and then have that book stay with you for a very long time and have you think about the next time you see a hare what it's life has been. I was so sad when this book ended. Diving into this the author's world was just magical. Thank you to Netgalley and Pantheon books for this lovely book.

The prose for this memoir was very strange. I liked the topic because I am an animal lover, but I just couldn’t get into the overall story because of wonky writing style.

During the Covid lockdowns, Chloe Dalton retreats to the English countryside and one day finds an abandoned leveret (baby hare) and rescues it, only to discover that most rescued hares do not survive. But the hare does live and Raising Hare is a delightful, thoughtful meditation on nature and the impact humans have on the natural world. This book is an utter delight and I slowly savored it in small chunks,

In early lockdown during the pandemic, Chloe Dalton was living in and English countryside and discovered a baby hare (leveret) in a worrisome place. After much internal debate, she brought the critter inside and started a crash course on raising a leveret, an uncommon thing to do. (She’s very respectful about the whole thing and works hard to cater to the animal’s needs, rather than her own.) Thus begins an odyssey for her that she has developed into a marvelous story for us. This is such a lovely, thoughtful, delightful read and will absolutely be one of my favorites of the year.

Chloe Dalton is a political advisor and speech writer who during the Covid lockdown retreated to a family home in the English countryside. Not long after arriving she came across a leveret, or baby Hare. She left it, but returned a while later and saw that it hadn’t moved, and concerned of what could happen to it, against her better judgment she brought the hare into her house.

What starts as an attempt to merely keep the small creature alive expands into a truly life changing event that opens her eyes to the natural world around us and how would might better live among our fellow creatures instead of just eradicating them for our own various gains.

I also listened to this on audio in nearly one trip between LA and Palm Springs and found myself falling in love with the hare she refused to name, lest she become more attached to the creature. Wonderfully read by actress Louise Brealey, it’s not only an education into the hare as a species, but a story of how the simplest of creature can change our lives, and the absolute beauty we can find in the natural world when we’re not distracted by the crush of the every day.I would highly recommend this, especially if you need your spirits lifted, and would also add that Dalton’s instagram is the greatest visual accompaniment to this lovely, special story. #RaisingHare will be out March 4th

Wow! I never thought I would read a whole book about hares (which are different than rabbits, I learned), but here I am. This is a book about Dalton’s experience starting to raise a wild hare in the English countryside during the pandemic. You follow Dalton’s journey with the hare, figuring out how to care for it while maintaining its freedom to be a wild animal. As she learns about the hare's needs and habits, she encounters writing about hares in poems, novels, folktales, and oral traditions. She gains an appreciation for wild animals and the natural world. If you love learning about animals and nature, this book is for you. It gave me a lot to think about in terms of how we humans impact nature and wildlife. I became invested in the hare’s story and kept turning the page to find out what happened next. I’m giving this book 5 stars because it executes what it set out to do flawlessly. As I said, if you’re not an animal person, this might be a boring read. If you’re interested in animals, nature, and science, check it out.

I loved this book--literally could not put it down, since Chloe Dalton's story of how she found a baby leveret while on a country walk near her home in England during COVID and what happened when she brought it into her home to raise is absolutely fascinating. Comparisons can, of course, be made to Helen Macdonald's bestseller "H is for Hawk" (which I also loved), but the thing that really drew me into Dalton's story is that she had no conscious plan or intention to raise the leveret and no idea at all how to go about it, as there is no tradition of hares being raised in captivity or as pets--neither of which, it's important to note, Dalton has any intention of doing. Given her complete lack of knowledge, Dalton spends the isolating days of COVID researching hares and sending for any hare-adjacent books she can find, a search that eventually leads her, for example, to the 18th century poet Willam Cowper, from whose poems and essays she gleans suggestions for what to feed the leveret. Through similar trial-and-error research and experiences, Dalton and the leveret grope toward a harmonious co-existence that feels hard won and yet somehow still organic and beautiful. There's so much else to this book--discussions of sustainable farming methods, the environment and climate change; the role of the hare in literature throughout the ages; a very particular home/work balance struggle--but at its heart, this book is about one woman's willingness to accept the hare and all its wildness (especially all its wildness!) and adapt her life to its rhythms, rather than the other way around. I will recommend this book to absolutely everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Pantheon Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. I learned so much about hares, a species I originally knew nothing about. And as I learned, I grew to love the hare in this book as much as someone can love something they've never actually met.

The author shows such respect and love for wild things, you can't help but want to find the wild things by you to love.

"Raising Hare" is the story a woman unexpectedly caring for a newborn hare, The story is lyrical and engaging and the insights on trust, attachment, and letting go resonate without being trite or preachy. This is a good story for readers who love animals, and taming tales, but also for anyone struggling with transition or letting go, it may be just the balm you need. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. Pub Date: March 4, 2025.

#RaisingHare

I was completely enchanted by this nonfiction telling of how author, Chloe Dalton, came across a leveret and in an effort to rescue the infant she took it home. She took dutiful care to maintain wildness for the animal, yet provide milk and basic necessities. Over time a beautiful relationship was formed between human and hare. Daltons intent was to not have the hare be a pet. She therefore never named it.

I felt as if I was in the room with Chloe and the hare as little discoveries were found. Her interest in botany and finding grasses and foods that the hare would need and want I found endearing at this sweet goodness for an animal.

I am a sucker for animal stories. It's a micro niche that I fully claim. There's something about animal stories and their connection to nature and humans that I find fascinating to watch and read about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for the gifted e-ARC.

Most importantly, a huge thank you to NetGalley, Chloe Dalton and Pantheon Books for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.

“Despite having spent thousands of hours asleep in the house, the only trace the hare has left are shallow, almost imperceptible indentation in the carpet across the doorway to my office, where her warm, long body has worn the surface smooth with its minute daily adjustments; six of her whiskers, scattered over the years; and a few weightless tufts of fur. The damp footprints she leaves on the floor on wet or dewy mornings evaporate within minutes. The emotional impact she has left, by contrast, is immense."

Let me begin by being upfront: I'm a bit biased when it comes to lagomorphs. I currently share my home with a 2 year old English Lop rabbit and when I say "share my home", I really mean it's his house and he just tolerates me. That being said, I jumped (hopped?) at the chance to read this book.

I'm of full understanding that rabbits and hares are drastically different. I just didn't know /how/ different they were until Ms. Dalton shared her achingly beautiful story. She, having been self quarantined during the infamous COVID-19 pandemic in her English countryside home, isn't exactly the poster image of animal loving nature girl until one fateful day she stumbles upon a solitary leveret during a walk. Plagued with the inner turmoil of what to do (if anything), she finally decides upon rescuing it by taking it back home and nursing it back to full strength. Little did she know this small gesture would change her life and her heart forever.

Told with candid vulnerability and an almost lyrical quality, the author lets us peer into the window of her home as it changes with each passing day, learning more and more about not only nature but herself as well as she little by little alters her lifestyle in order to merely understand this mystical creature more. If I could give this book 10 stars I would. Until then, you can have 5 solid ones, Ms. Dalton. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking me along on this magical journey with you and Hare.

This is one of my favorite books of 2024. "Raising Hare: A Memoir" by Chloe Dalton is a breathtaking and touching reflection on what it means to connect not just with nature but with ourselves. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Dalton finds herself tucked away in her English countryside home, away from the busy London lifestyle she was accustomed to and thrived in, and where she would travel all over the world at a moment's notice for her job.

While living in the countryside, she stumbles upon a newborn wild hare (a leveret). She leaves the leveret for several hours, hoping the mother hare will reconnect with it, but it still has not moved when she returns. Since it's in the middle of a dirt road, she worries for its safety with its exposure to tractors and predators, so she carries it inside the safety of the stone wall of her gardens and into her home. This begins a wild adventure of bottled milk feedings and deep research to provide this tiny leveret the best possible chance for survival and release back into the wild.

Dalton never cages the hare, nor does she name it or cuddle it, as one would a pet. She is always careful to allow the animal full autonomy and the ability to come and go from her home as it pleases. As a result, it trusts her completely and will sleep beside her.

This unlikely friendship and touching narrative explores trust, freedom, and the delicate balance of companionship with a wild animal and what's in their best interest.

Dalton's writing is vivid and immersive; you can practically feel the fresh air and the wind and see the collection of wildflowers and plants in her garden. Hear the tractors across the fields, the leveret tapping on the glass to come into the house and see the hares hopping around the gardens and surrounding fields as the sun begins to set. Her ups and downs with the leveret—filled with uncertainty and happiness—are so heartfelt. You find yourself cheering for both her and her the hare as they figure out their unique bond and love for one another. It is truly beautiful to read!

Even more interesting is how Dalton weaves in fascinating facts about hares and their history in art and folklore, adding depth to her story. It’s a beautiful reminder that sometimes the best experiences come from the most unexpected places. And it was incredibly inspiring to see how this hare changed her in so many unique ways. "Raising Hare" is definitely worth a read if you’re looking for something that’s both captivating and heartwarming. Five stars all the way!

Thank you #NetGalley, #ChloeDalton, #Pantheon for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of #RaisingHare.

I found this book interesting and informative, as well as delightful. It was nothing like I had ever read. The insights Chloe Dalton brought to light, regarding nature and its inhabitants, were eye opening. I am not an animal lover per se, but I am concerned with doing no harm to living creatures. Having stated that, I really found the story fascinating. You will too. Thank you NetGalley and Pantheon for granting this book to me for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #RaisingHare, #Pantheon, #Goodreads, #NetGalley.

In <i>Raising Hare</i>, Chloe Dalton recounts her experience raising a leveret, a baby hare, that she found alone on a country road in England during the Covid-19 pandemic. Knowing the creature was likely to die whether she intervened or not, she brought it home and nursed it. Her memoir of the experience tells us the quiet story of how her understanding of wild animals, their place in the world, and ours grew alongside the tiny leveret.

I grew up keeping rabbits, showing them at my county fair, studying breed standards. When my children were old enough to show, they brought rabbits to the fair, too. I helped them learn about showmanship, body parts, reproduction, diet, and so on. Despite my greater than average rabbit knowledge, I quickly realized that I understood next to nothing about hares. I hadn’t even realized they were separate species, unable to interbreed. In my ignorance, I assumed hares were simply “wild” rabbits. I read Dalton’s in-depth passages about their diets, behavior, places in culture and myth, history, population distribution and decline, with great interest.

For me, reading <i>Raising Hair</i> during the final days before the 2024 US Presidential Election was an act of self-preservation. Each time I picked up my Kindle, I eagerly entered a world focused not on hatred and lies, but on the simple rhythms of nature and its gentle beasts. I felt my breath loosen, my neck relax, as I sank into her exquisite, luxuriously detailed descriptions of the English countryside:

“I came to love these interludes in the working day, lounging on the stone steps with one eye on the leveret, watching the larks beat their way up to impossible heights with jerky motions of their powerful wings, spilling song over the land and me within it.”

and the leveret’s tiny and fascinating body:

“Every possible distinct outline on the leveret was broken up or disguised by contrasting colors. The pale fur that ringed its eyes was surrounded with a band of kohl-black hair. The hair on its throat was of the softest grey, like cool ashes, and was shorter and finer than on any other part of its body. Its muzzle was edged in ivory, its mouth round, a small ‘O’ of perpetual surprise, rimmed in fine soot-coloured hair. Its nostrils, too, were trimmed in darkest grey. The fur on its back was brindled and tussocky. Each ear, narrow at the root, broadened out into a wide oval before tapering into a slanted tip, sheathed in furs so black that it seemed to have been dipped in ink.”

Dalton’s book soothed me, just as she felt soothed by the leveret’s peaceful presence: “I took to slipping away from my desk just to look at it, amazed by its calmness and tranquil demeanour.” I felt soothed by this book, I felt safe. I felt that as though no matter what happens Tuesday, there will be hares, there will be hawks and buzzards, and the seasons will march on, and we are blessed to exist amongst any of it.

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed Dalton's novel! She writes with such eloquence and poetically descriptive turns of phrase, e..g. "watered the seed of curiosity in me." This author wove in lots of historical and anecdotal information about hares along with great safety information for those who keep pet rabbits or hares, yet without seeming boring, although parts read like a book report because of her immense amount of research and study. This book encompassed so much more than just a woman finds a wild, baby animal and rears it. Due in great part to her superior writing skills, the story begins about that, but ends with larger issues, life lessons and not just her personal growth, either. She relates the relationship between humans and animals, her journey to discovering contentment with life again, staying still and enjoying a place rather than racing around in a constant search for fulfillment at the next location. It "enlarged her sense of the world" and this reader's. There were additional lessons along the way that I'll leave a mystery for the next reader. Yes, a bit of activism, but presented more as suggestions reminding us of our "dependence on the natural world" and building a sense of compassion for the vulnerability of hares or other prey in the animal kingdom. I'll admit I'm slightly biased after having pet rabbits for many decades. I may have identified with a lot of the funnier stories, such as her hare commandeering items like a rug he'd set out to lounge on or when it boycotted entering the house after she dared to reorganize the furniture. It is true that these cousins have as much attitude as her hare did throughout the story and such larger than life, opinionated personalities when given reign to express them. Even without having pet rabbits, I can't imagine a reader not developing an emotional attachment to Dalton's journey, experiencing the roller coaster of highs and lows along the journey., and a growing investment as the story progresses. I'll suffice it to say don't let the inevitable ending deter you from picking up this book. While Dalton subtly reminds us of the inevitability of how fleeting life is, she left ambiguity to make sure we take away powerful life lessons and encourage reflection on how we can make the most of our time, rather than dwelling on its brevity.

Raising Hare was a cozy read that reminds us all to slow down and pay attention to nature, and the magic that comes with it when we do. Living in tandem with wildlife is more than possible, and should be something we all strive for. The writing was straight forward and educational on the world of Hares. I recommend this book for anyone looking to reconnect with nature.

In this explorative documentation of nature, Dalton takes a memoir-approach in examining both animal and human in her journey of accidentally raising a wild hare. Dalton takes the reader on a flower-lined path down her countryside of life, experiencing frequent interactions with the wild. While it seems clear this author took notice of these simplicities before, this all changes as she takes in a baby wild hare after initially trying to refrain from doing so, not wishing to perturb the natural cycle of mother nature herself. But after coming across the lone hare again, Dalton brings the baby home and begins the unruly path of learning to acclimate to the wild without domesticating the hare—at least, not fully.

Dalton has incredible awareness of herself around the hare, and even after deciding to nurture it to health, she refuses to allow this wild animal to take on the role of a pet. She doesn’t give this hare a name, and yet, develops an emotional bond despite her better judgment. The way in which she describes the hare—everything from its ever-changing coat to its gentle nature and playful demeanor—in such a poetic manner, that one cannot help but read it and find patterns of humanity in itself.

Raising Hare made me feel like I was watching Animal Planet like I did as a child, all while making me reconsider methods of existing as an adult. The hare has and can continue to take on a symbol for many things, but I found a theme of freedom cycling throughout the book. This, in turn, made me think particularly of women struggling to survive in a world of predators; always being on edge and routing their entire life around protecting themselves. There was also an underlying feeling of calm, despite it all, becoming so aware of how small each of us are in the grand scheme of Earth. We are but a creature trying to survive.

I felt myself walking away from this story with a brighter awareness on my own day to day, being provided with reminders of the simple beauties of the world, as well as focusing on the basic purpose of being alive—to survive and live along the way. Build connections and foster community. Slowing down, in order to truly recognize these things.