Educated
Tara Westover
Both books explore Biography & Autobiography
Raising Hare
by Chloe Dalton
A short, quietly absorbing memoir about raising an orphaned wild hare during lockdown that becomes a thoughtful reflection on freedom, restraint, and how little we notice the animals around us.
What It's About
In early 2021, Chloe Dalton, a political adviser and speechwriter used to a fast London life, was sitting out lockdown in rural England when she came across a newborn hare stranded after a dog had chased it. She took it in, expecting to keep it alive only long enough to release it. Instead, she found herself learning almost from scratch how to care for an animal that rarely survives human handling, and then watching it choose, night after night, to come and go between her house and the open fields.
The book moves between that unfolding relationship and wider material on hares: their biology and behaviour, the pressures they face from modern farming, shooting and coursing, and the roles they have played in art, folklore and literature. Dalton writes with precision rather than sentimentality. She is careful not to turn the hare into a pet or a symbol, and much of the book's tension comes from her decision not to confine it, knowing each departure could be the last.
Reading it feels slow in the best sense. It is brief, observant and calm, closer to a long attentive notebook than a dramatic animal story. The pleasure lies in small details, in a busy professional learning to sit still, and in the ethical questions she keeps asking herself about what it means to help a wild creature without taking its wildness away.
Read this if you…
- enjoyed nature memoirs like H is for Hawk or The Comfort of Crows and want something gentler and shorter
- are curious about wild animals and the ethics of intervening when one needs help
- want a calm, reflective read that rewards slowing down
Skip it if you…
- want a plot-driven story with high drama or a strong narrative arc
- find detailed, patient observation of animal behaviour tedious rather than soothing
Key Ideas
- 1
Caring without owning
Dalton's central dilemma is how to keep a vulnerable animal alive while letting it remain wild. She refuses to pen or tame the hare, accepting constant risk from predators and people. The book treats this as a genuine moral choice, asking readers to consider whether protection that removes freedom is really kindness at all.
- 2
Attention as a way of living
Lockdown forced Dalton out of a schedule of meetings and deadlines, and the hare taught her to observe patiently. Much of the book's appeal is watching her notice tiny behaviours and seasonal shifts. It quietly argues that close, unhurried attention to the natural world changes how we experience time and ourselves.
- 3
The hidden lives of hares
Interwoven with the memoir is a clear, accessible account of what hares are actually like: how they raise young, how they evade danger, and why they struggle in captivity. Readers come away understanding an animal most people glimpse only briefly at field edges, and appreciating how different hares are from rabbits.
- 4
A threatened animal in human culture
Dalton surveys how hares have appeared in painting, myth and superstition, and contrasts that rich cultural presence with their real-world vulnerability. She addresses farming practices, shooting and illegal coursing without turning the book into a polemic, letting the specific animal she knows make the case for wider concern.
Limitations
Some readers find the book thin on event: by design, much of it is quiet observation, and those expecting a page-turner may feel it drifts. The digressions into hare history and folklore are informative but can feel like interruptions to the more compelling personal story. Dalton reveals relatively little about her own inner life beyond her relationship with the hare, which suits the book's restraint but may disappoint readers wanting a fuller memoir. Wildlife experts also caution that rearing wild animals at home is rarely advisable, a point the book acknowledges but which casual readers should keep in mind.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is Raising Hare like H is for Hawk?
- Both are British memoirs about a woman and a wild animal, but the tone differs. Helen Macdonald's book is entwined with grief and the intense discipline of falconry. Dalton's is lighter and more restrained, focused on letting an animal stay free rather than training it. If H is for Hawk felt heavy, this is a gentler companion.
- Is the book sad?
- It carries an undercurrent of anxiety, since the hare faces real dangers every time it leaves the house, and there are reflections on loss and the threats hares face generally. But the overall mood is tender and hopeful rather than tragic. Most readers describe it as moving and calming rather than upsetting.
- Do I need to know anything about wildlife to enjoy it?
- No. Dalton started as a complete novice, and she explains hare biology and behaviour clearly as she learns it herself. The book is written for general readers, and its natural-history sections are accessible and brief rather than technical.
- Published
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9780593689004
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Category
- Biographies
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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