Raising Hare: The heart-warming true story of an unlikely friendship by Chloe Dalton – Our Review

Our Review…

Chloe Dalton, an international political adviser unexpectedly finds herself retreating to a restored stone barn in rural England during the pandemic, her hectic life giving way to quiet contemplation.

Then, one winters day, she discovers an injured leveret, an orphaned fragile baby hare, huddled alone in a rural lane. From the first moment, she wrestles with doubt… rescue it, or let nature take its course?

What follows is anything but ordinary. The leveret survives; incredibly against all odds and with a few challenges… it flourishes.

Dalton with great care, feeds and shelters ‘hare’ yet resists naming or domesticating it – but this is no pet, but a truly wild creature. Chloe wrestles with her fears but lets hare roam freely….by night hare explores fields, by day returning indoors, existing between two worlds.

Dalton, a world traveller, who normally any resists any ties or commitments, and whose political work regularly takes her to the world most dangerous trouble spots,  finds herself learning to slow down, to observe to co-exist gently with the natural world.

The memoir unfolds as a beautiful meditation on freedom, trust, consent, and more over complete co-existence of human and wild hare.

An exceptional memoir, shortlisted for the Non- Fiction Women’s Prize 2025.

Review by Nicole @ Great Escape Books