Raising Hare

Reviews

“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

“An astounding debut memoir in which Dalton shows how a serene and long-misunderstood creature opened her eyes in many ways. It just might do the same for readers. . . . Soulful and gracefully written.” —Kirkus, starred review

“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, author of The Midnight Library

“I am so grateful to have this special book to read right now. It is so good. So glorious. So quiet. So cozy. So perfectly written.”—Amy Sedaris

“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, author of Vanishing Treasures

“The best books make you rethink how you relate to the world. This is one of those books. Quietly profound, beautifully written, Hare is now lodged in my heart.”—Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring

“Dalton makes her tale refreshingly unsentimental, delivering sharp insights about the value of trust, freedom, and respect for the natural world. It’s a delight.”—Publishers Weekly

“Raising Hare is more than just a charming wildlife-rescue story. It’s more even than a lively cultural and natural history of a gentle creature that is too often regarded as a nuisance. Perhaps most of all Raising Hare is a perfect testimony to the transformative power of love. In learning to love an orphaned hare, Chloe Dalton learned to love the whole wild world. The great gift of this remarkable book is the way it teaches us to do the same.”—Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows

“Come look through this brilliant keyhole of a book to see the life of a single wild animal down to its finest hairs and gestures. Peering from the small room of human awareness, you see out to a greater, vivid world. Your ears will perk and your body will leap. You will become far more than yourself.”—Craig Childs, author of The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild

“If you need a dose of sweet, calm sanity and deep connection to nature, this is the book for you. Chloe Dalton's writing is as captivating, stirring, and serene as the hare she raises. I loved every page and will be sending copies to all my friends and relatives.”—Jennifer Ackerman, author of What an Owl Knows

“Chloe Dalton didn’t suspect that finding a helpless baby hare would be a great turning point in her life. Her adrenaline-filled work in government policy didn’t prepare her for how raising this small, wild, helpless creature would open her eyes to a new world—one that is around us all the time. She didn’t know that her life of words would be changed when she realized how much can be communicated in silence. Fortunately for us, Dalton shares these rich and profound experiences in this beautiful book.”—Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel and Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe

“Hares need their own enthusiasts, and they won’t find one kinder or more curious than Chloe Dalton.”—Catherine Raven, author of Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship

“Spellbinding. . . Prepare to be bewitched by this future classic of nature writing.“—The Bookseller, Book of the Month

“A remarkable debut.”—The Spectator (UK)

“A tale of hope, channeled through the enduring and improbable bond between a human and a wild animal. It’s a love letter to the natural world, encouraging us to stop in our tracks and pay attention to how awe-inspiring our environment can be.”—The Times (UK)

"Enchanting . . . This is a book to reset our attitudes to the wild animals who live around us."―Mail on Sunday (UK)

“One of the most gorgeous tales of human-animal connection out there.”—iNews

“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, author of War Horse

“A stunning work that captures something truly magical. This is more than a wildlife memoir, it’s a philosophical masterpiece ruminating on our place as human beings in nature. It left me pondering the ways in which I could listen and look more deeply to better consider those with whom we share our landscape.” —Clare Balding, author of My Animals and Other Family

“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, conservationist, wildlife filmmaker, and host of the BBC’s BAAFTA Award-winning Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch series Expand reviews