Reading Guide for Raising Hare: A Memoir

Quiet, tender, and unexpectedly profound, Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton invites readers into a slower rhythm of life—one shaped by care, observation, and the quiet bonds between humans and the natural world. In January's Page & Pairing reading guide, we extend the experience beyond the page with thoughtful pairings designed to mirror the memoir’s grounded intimacy: cozy savory pies, a soothing mocktail or indulgent espresso martini, and a complementary cookbook inspired by rustic, seasonal cooking. You’ll also find nature-centered fiction and nonfiction picks for readers who crave reflective storytelling, along with book club ready discussion questions that explore tenderness, responsibility, solitude, and what it means to truly pay attention.

Raising Hare: A Memoir

by Chloe Dalton

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK - NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - FINALIST FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE - A moving and 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 Economist, Scientific American, Slate

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. 

Discussion Questions:

1. How has this book and Dalton’s experience made you feel about keeping animals as pets, both domesticated and non-domesticated?
2. Have you ever had an experience that changed your awareness of nature and the world around you?

Recipe to Pair: Cumberland Pie

This classic Cumberland pie and filling dish fits right in to the rural English countryside where Dalton spent her days raising Hare.

Ingredients:

• 2 celery stalks
• 1 onion
• 5 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp of plain flour
• 2 tbsp of tomato puree
• 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cubes beef stock
• Braised beef cut in to chunks
• Large potato
• ¼ cup grated mature cheddar and parmesan

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325. Soften the celery, onion, carrots, bay and 1 thyme sprig in oil and butter for 10 mins. Stir in the flour, puree, and worcestershire sauce and stock cubes.
2. Gradually stir in 2.5 cups of hot water, then tip in the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hrs and 30 mins. Then uncover and cook for 30 mins to 1 hour until the meat is tender.
3. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in a pan of boiling water until they’re not done, but almost there.
4. Transfer the meat to a baking dish. Slice the potato into even rounds and toss with remaining oil and thyme leaves. Layer on the beef, scattering with the cheese as you layer. You can cover and chill the pie now for 1 day or freeze for 3 months.
5. Increase the oven to 400 and bake for 30 to 40 mins until golden, crispy, and sauce is bubbling. 

Cocktail Pairing: Espresso martini

Created in 1984 in London, the espresso martini is the perfect combination of coffee to keep you up and alcohol to take the edge off. 

Ingredients:

• 40 ml Vodka
• 20 ml Coffee liqueur
• 20 ml Espresso
• Ice
• 3 coffee beans

Instructions:

1. Make a shot of espresso and leave it to chill.
2. Pour the vodka, coffee liqueur and espresso into a shaker with ice.
3. Shake vigorously in order to create a froth and until the shaker feels ice cold. 
4. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with three coffee beans.

Non-Alcoholic PAIRING: English Garden Mocktail 

A great drink to sip while spending time in the garden or enjoying nature, whether in the English countryside or anywhere you like to spend time outside.

Ingredients:

• 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 medium strawberries
• 1 thin, long strip of English cucumber
• 1 round slice of english cucumber
• ¾ ounce ginger syrup
• Celery soda or ginger beer, chilled
• 1 fresh sprig of mint
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:

1. Make the ginger syrup: Peel 2-inch ginger piece, then cut into ¼-inch thick pieces. Place in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until fragrant. Remove from the heat and add 1 cup granulated sugar and ½ cup water. Place back on medium heat and boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar before removing from the heat and let cool at room temperature.
2. Pour the mixture through a find-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Refrigerate in bottle or airtight container up to 1 month.
3. Cut 1 strawberry into quarters. Slice the remaining strawberry in half, but don’t cut the stem.
4. Press 1 English cucumber strip against the inside of an old fashioned glass. Add the quartered strawberry, cucumber slice, and ¾ ounce ginger syrup. Gently muddle into a pulp. Fill glass with ice, then top with celery soda or ginger beer. Use the halved strawberry and mint sprig dusted with powdered sugar for garnish.

Natural Nonfiction Pairing: 

Through traveling the world and ruminating on the streams, creeks, lagoons, and rivers of the world, MacFarlane explores whether rivers are alive? As he takes readers through extraordinary parts of the world, his story always comes back to the little stream behind his home.

Is a River Alive?

by Robert MacFarlane

Hailed in the New York Times as "a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler," Robert Macfarlane brings his glittering style to a profound work of travel writing, reportage, and natural history. Is a River Alive? is a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law.

New Fiction Pairing

For those looking for a bit of fiction to round out their reading list, here is a new novel set in the quiet English countryside. Where Dalton showcases the ups and downs of her real life experience, Hall adds a suspenseful twist to the quaint and quiet of a rural village. 

Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)

by Clare Leslie Hall

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling tale perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.

"The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him."

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth's brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn't realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager--the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.