Book Review: Raising Hare
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Chloe Dalton owned a place in the country, where she retreated when not working in London. But for most of her life, she had barely paused to discover nature right outside her window.
In February 2021, Chloe Dalton stumbled upon a newborn hare, a leveret, that had been chased by a dog. This experience became the book Dalton would later write called “Raising Hare.”
“I crested the skyline, deep in my thoughts, and began to walk down the slight slope towards the lane, when I was brought up short by a tiny creature facing me on the grass strip running down the track’s centre. I stopped abruptly. Leveret. The word surfaced in my mind, even though I had never seen a young hare before.” – Chloe Dalton
Taking in the Hare:
Fearing it would be killed if she left it there, she took it home. Dalton read how hard it is to keep a leveret alive, most of whom perish in captivity. But as you’d feed any newborn baby, she made up bottles and fed the leveret.
She looked up any information she could find on leverets and sustaining them. Dalton found a website devoted to hare protection that provided guidance on their care.
She rose at dawn for months to make up bottles of milk or lay out food for the leveret. Dalton, a single businesswoman, was not married and had never had a child. But through trial and error, Dalton kept the leveret alive, and it became her companion.
Unlike a cat or a rabbit, it never left a mess to clean up. She gave the hare an opening to go in and out of her home. There came a time when it slept outside overnight.
But every time it left, she knew she might never see it again.
Dalton & the Hare Co-Existed:
Time passed, and she and the hare co-existed, and she became quite attached to it. She found herself being quiet when the leveret was napping.
Dalton never caged it, wanting it to be able to adapt to the wild if it were to leave. She never named it because doing so would be to proclaim it a pet. Dalton did everything she could to protect it.
“I once ran several hundred yards in my pyjamas – my arms windmilling absurdly – to chase off a fox prowling down the track past the house.” – Chloe Dalton
She avoided switching on lights at dusk so as not to interfere with the leveret’s rhythms. Dalton became conscious for the first time of their disruptive effect on the vision of nocturnal animals.
She stopped wearing perfume, thinking the scent would be caustic to the hare’s sensitive nose. Stopped watching the evening news, so as not to subject the leveret to loud and discordant noises.
The Experience Changed Her:
“I had even become reluctant to walk across the fields in daytime out of a desire not to disturb other sleeping hares. It was excessive. It was absurd. It was beautiful.” – Chloe Dalton
She would wander outside, looking for the hare, at times worried that it had not returned. Then she’d come home to find it waiting for her inside the house.
She found herself influenced by the hare. As its gaze traveled outward, so did Dalton’s. She became aware of the wildlife and noted their habits, even though that had never been of interest before discovering the leveret.
Dalton, a writer, usually traveled for her work. She knew she couldn’t stay home to watch over the leveret much longer. Ultimately, she would have to leave for business. And when she did, she’d come home to find the hare in or around her home.
The Leveret Grew Up:
The leveret grew up, and it went farther and farther afield. One day, there were other baby leverets, and then she knew that the hare was a female.
The rescued leveret, grown up to be a hare, was to have three leverets of its own, and they too came in and out of her home. She watched as the mother fed and cared for her leverets, completing the cycle of nature.
Dalton loved to watch the baby leverets play and learn from their mother before they, too, went out into the world. But the original leveret she rescued stayed close to home. It would be gone for a while, but it always came back to her.
Chloe learned to look at the countryside around her in a whole new light. She’d never thought much about nature before finding the leveret.
It occurs to her that many creatures lose their homes and sources of food due to machinery and modernization.
Looking at Life Differently:
This experience opened up a whole new world to her. Dalton found that she became more relaxed, finally realizing she had been carrying nervous tension from a life constantly on the move.
As much as she saved the leveret, so too did the leveret, in its own way, save her. She’d lived the life of a workaholic, but the hare opened her eyes to so many things that gave her immense pleasure.
“Our wider value system is distorted, and the price is paid by the powerless, be they human or animal. As in so many areas of human endeavour, if we are not sensitive, there is blood in the harvest.” – Chloe Dalton
About the Author:
Chloe Dalton is a writer, political adviser, and foreign policy specialist. She has worked in the U.K. Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The author has advised and written for many prominent figures.
Dalton divides her time between London and her home in the English countryside. This is her first book.
You can read more about her at her website.
Note: I was given this book free to read and give my honest review.
This sounds like such a lovely, sweet book!
Thank you for having the courage to speak out about what is happening in our country now and what has been happening for the last year. My daughter lives in Minneapolis and she is seeing first hand the things that others don’t want us to see or believe. Each of us has a responsibility to speak up and speak out. Evil triumphs when good people do nothing. We must all do something whenever we can, however we can.
My thoughts exactly. I hope she’s not in harm’s way.
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I ordered this book. First time I’ve done so.
I truly admired your willingness with yesterday’s post to risk losing readers to speak with truth and insight about what’s happening in America.
I’m going to venture that people who support this administration don’t know history. Yes, history repeats itself, over and over. I just never thought that people who were raised with our freedoms would be so willing to allow one man to take them away.
Brenda thank you for yesterday’s post. Sometimes I feel my husband and I are the only ones who have these feelings. Everyone must vote the midterm elections. We can win back the House and Senate, put an end to this nightmare!
Brenda, your post yesterday showed that you have risen to a new level of communication. I totally agree with you and I am so thankful I have a place to come and see the truth spoken! You are amazing. I pray you will continue to bring us the truth. Bless you!!!❤️❤️
Yesterday’s post was a little disturbing. I don’t read your blog for political explanations. I read it for your book reviews, decorating ideas and cat information along with other subjects you discuss. Our political views might differ but I don’t care about that. What I do care about is not having to read about the mess previous administrations have allowed to happen. I hear enough about that watching the news. Please refrain from posts of a political nature. I would like to remain a follower.
CC,
Brenda’s ‘yesterday’s post’ was written from her heart. I feel she was trying to open people’s minds to look with their own eyes and see (not be told) what is really happening to our country before it is to late.
Our current administration is demolishing our constitution as it’s rapidly turning our country into a dictatorship. And as much as you may think that will not affect you and the ones you care about…it will.
Please look with an open mind and see that all our liberties are being striped away from us, and if you don’t want to live in a country that mirrors Nazi Germany, then it is our moral duty as Americans for every one of us to stand up, sound the alarm and defend democracy.
This is what Brenda is doing. And I applaud her!
What about the freedom and liberties of the women who lost their Ives at the hands of illegals Nora? One as young as 12?
The National Institute of Justice analyzed data from the Texas Department of Public Safety arrest records. They found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born US citizens for violent and drug crimes, and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes. I also looked at data from the National Policing Institute, House.gov, and NPR who also found that the majority of violent crimes, including murder, are committed by native-born Americans.
Where is the link to purchase this book? I tried the Amazon under the picture but it featured the AI book.
I’m so sorry! I normally check to make sure I’ve got the right link. It’s on there now, correctly, both underneath the book and within the text.
As I read your words about how this author felt about caring for this rabbit I knew my feelings for the squirrels I feed are the same. One squirrel always comes to greet me, yes he/she knows I have food but for me this moment of sheer joy is a wonderful feeling that I get to enjoy every day.
Soon spring will be here and they won’t need me to feed them but I won’t forget the precious moments I had with this beautiful animal.
I will of course buy this book, I am so looking forward to reading it.
It’s a wonderful book! I obviously had the book link wrong, but it’s been corrected now.
Brenda, thanks for this review! I’m going to get this book ordered. It sounds like a wonderful read.
I also wanted to give a thumbs up for your last post. You showed true bravery and patriotism with that post and I support it 100%.
I hope you faired well from this terrible storm that effected so many. I’m still under 4″ of ice here in TN. We lost power but finally it came back up on Monday. Some are still without. There’s a lot of damage here. My neighbors trees were actually exploding. There’s so much clean up to do. We won’t get above freezing until sometime next week. I’m reallllly ready for Spring!
Thank you. It was my true feelings, and I knew some wouldn’t like it. I still have snow, but my electricity was never interrupted. I’m grateful that I don’t see any damage. Though I haven’t been outside in a week and have only looked through the windows!