Raising Hare
The heart-warming true story of an unlikely friendship
by Chloe Dalton
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Pub Date Oct 22 2024 | Archive Date Oct 17 2024
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Description
The magical true story of a woman and an injured hare who taught her how to live again - the perfect Christmas gift for 2024
Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and snoozed in your house for hours on end. This happened to me.
When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare. Yet when she finds the creature, endangered, alone and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival.
Raising Hare chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for the leveret and preparing for its return to the wild. We witness an extraordinary relationship between human and animal, rekindling our sense of awe towards nature and wildlife. This improbable bond of trust serves to remind us that the most remarkable experiences, inspiring the most hope, often arise when we least expect them.
Advance Praise
"Raising Hare is a glorious book – for its warmth, its precision, its joy. It's not dreamy or romantic about the natural world – it's something far better than that." —Katherine Rundell
"I savoured every carefully chosen and perfectly polished word and I cared so deeply about Hare that I found myself holding my breath . . . This is more than a wildlife memoir, it's a philosophical masterpiece ruminating on our place as human beings in nature." —Clare Balding
"Raising Hare is an astounding achievement. Not since I read Salar the Salmon by Henry Williamson have I witnessed such insight into a creature of the wild. This is a great and important tale for our times, for all of us, in the same league as Ted Hughes, Alice Oswald, Thomas Hardy and indeed Henry Williamson himself. I am so pleased Chloe Dalton told us about raising hare. I will not forget it and nor will anyone who reads it." —Michael Morpurgo
"This book is exceptional. It made me smile out loud, such a magical tale of a world turned upside down by a fragile wild thing – a leveret lost, a life found. A simply wonderful story, profoundly beautiful." —Chris Packham
"Written with tenderness and lyricism from someone who has taken the time to reconnect to nature and the wild within. A beautiful book." — Angelina Jolie
"A beautiful book that makes you think profoundly about how we so often tune out the natural world around us. Chloe Dalton is a tender, curious, wise, mind-expanding guide, connecting readers with the wild we humans once knew so well. I will be recommending this to everyone." —Matt Haig
"A captivating and uplifting story about a chance encounter that proved utterly transformative. Beautifully written, touching and thought-provoking. It's stayed with me weeks after finishing the final sentence." —Cathy Newman
"Utterly bewitched by this marvel of nature writing by Chloe Dalton with glorious illustrations by Denise Nestor." —Caroline Sanderson
"A moving, magical blend of memoir and nature writing... beautifully written, with a luminous, fairytale quality." —John O'Connell
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781805302711 |
| PRICE | CA$34.95 (CAD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Anna O, Reviewer
Heartfelt and educational read about the authors encounter with a baby hare and the resultant relationship that developed.
Brenda C, Reviewer
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton is a deeply personal true story about the author's life-changing encounter with a hare and their subsequent relationship and bond. Descriptions of its sounds, paws, feedings, jumping into Chloe's lap and the ultimate form of trust melted me into a puddle.
Covid necessitated a stay in the countryside. When Chloe saw a tiny leveret she left it alone, hoping its mother would return to it. But hours later that wasn't the case. She carefully checked for injuries and scooped it up surrounded by leaves to prevent direct human contact. After consulting everyone she could about feeding and rescuing, Chloe discovered raising wild hares wasn't done. It just wouldn't work due to their needs, characteristics and habitat. But gaining positive response after feeding it, Chloe began to experiment with building nests and houses. Trial and error were constants but both human and animal came to appreciate and rely on interaction.
Described are the hare's anatomy, seasonal changes in appearance, metabolic rate, sensitivity to changes in its home environment, food it (dis)liked, its need for independence, and mutual fondness. Life wasn't without danger as well, mostly from humans.
I like that Chloe learned from mistakes and persevered in finding solutions, the very best way is to fall down and get back up. The illustrations add a personal touch to the hare I feel a kinship with! Particularly touching are the lessons Chloe learned about herself, her priorities, new gratification for nature and preservation in general. Like her, I study animals (I live in forest) and completely relate to her intense desire to make changes to better nature and humans by observing and learning.
My sincere thank you to Canongate Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this engrossing book.
