Date: 26 April 2026
Location: Bob & Linda (at MT pool patio)
Eleven bookers met at the Magnolia Trace pool house patio to discuss Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare.
Dalton, a British political advisor and speechwriter, moved to a small, remote cottage during the covid-19 pandemic. (Apparently, her cottage was in the vicinity of her family’s estate, Hauxwell Hall, in northern England.) While on a walk she spied a very young hare, a leveret, which she initially left alone – hoping it would return to its mother. Several hours later the leveret had not moved; so Dalton, fearing it would not survive the night, picked it up and took it to her cottage.
This was the beginning of a remarkable undertaking.
Dalton conducted extensive research into the history and raising of hares. She was determined not to treat the hare as a pet. She never gave it a name but always referred to it as the leveret and later as a hare, and she allowed it to venture out into the countryside with total freedom.
Nevertheless, she and the hare eventually established a powerful bond, with the hare spending much of its time inside the cottage with her. In fact, the hare actually gave birth to two of its young in Dalton’s office behind some curtains.
Dalton has keen powers of observation, and her detailed descriptions of the hare as it matures are just wonderful.
All six of the Happy Bookers who completed the book really enjoyed it.
— Bob