Raising Hare

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE • A fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, TIME, The Boston Globe, The Economist, Scientific American, Slate “Moving. . . . Impart[s] valuable lessons about slowing down and the beauty in the unexpected.”—USA Today “A perfect testimony to the transformative power of love.”—Margaret Renkl, author of The Comfort of Crows Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and bounded around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, more than two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality. In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how difficult it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, weasels, feral cats, raptors, or even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death. Raising Hare chronicles their journey together while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness firsthand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.

Wry Writer wrote on her blog about the Great British Bake Off Book Challenge.

Here is mine.

ON YOUR MARKS – A Book You Can’t Wait To Read

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel. I’m a huge fan of her books and am really looking forward to this one. Comes out September 15, 2026.

SIGNATURE BAKE – A Book From Your Favourite Genre

I love survival stories. There are many great books out there, but the most recent one for me was 117 Days Adrift by Maurice and Maralyn Bailey. Another great one is Left for Dead by Eric Jay Dolin.

SHOWSTOPPER – A Book With A Beautiful Cover

I love the outdoors and hiking; I found this cover beautiful and creative. A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko.

SOGGY BOTTOM – A Book That Made You Cry

Oof. Lots of books make me cry, but this one was so powerful, raw, and full of hope that I cried many times while reading it. When Breath Becomes air by Paul Kalanithi.

HOLLYWOOD HANDSHAKE – Your Perfect Book

My perfect book is hard to nail down. All books are beautiful and perfect for different reasons, but mine would include animals, the outdoors, kind humans, and some history. That about describes Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton for me. I just loved the book. So, it’s a double entry on this list for me.

LEAVING THIS WEEK – A Book You Didn’t Finish

Always remember the words of Doris Lessing:

” There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty- and vice versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you. " ~ Doris Lessing

Don’t be afraid to stop reading a book. It may not be your time.

I’ve stopped many books, and you should too. Dive deep into new genres and try reading a book that doesn’t even look good to you. Explore. You may just be surprised by what you find.

Three recent books I DNF.

Dominion by Matthew Scully

Dominion by Tom Holland.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

STAR BAKER – A Five Star Read

Last years 5 star read was hands down Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Another one that everyone should read is Foster by Claire Keegan.

AND THE WINNER IS – A Book By A Favourite Author

A hands-down favorite author is Maria Popova. I love how she writes. Her latest book, Traversal, was outstanding.

And you, Avid Reader, what would make it into your Great British Bake Off list?