What do you love most about your memoir?
I wrote the book with the hare stretched out on her side in my office, or licking her paws beside me. As I settled at my desk in the morning to write, she would arrive back from her nocturnal wanderings, shake the dew from her fur and settle down to rest. I never knew what the next day would bring, and it filled me with a sense of wonder. If I’d been writing about an experience that was already in the past, there might have been a temptation to burnish it with my own interpretation and the benefit of hindsight. Instead, my task was to observe closely, to listen and to try faithfully to describe what I witnessed.
What kind of reader do you think will most appreciate or enjoy your book?
I’m not a scientist or conservationist; I’m a city dweller who happened to have an extraordinary experience with a wild animal. I hope that the book might appeal to people who wouldn’t normally read nature writing. Perhaps readers who, like me, had a strong connection to animals in their childhood but lost sight of that because of work stress and responsibility. Or anyone who is going through a difficult period in their life and feels uncertain about the future. The message of the book is that sometimes the most beautiful experiences in life are just around the corner, or—in this case—just at the end of the garden. The things that we least expect can end up bringing us the greatest joy.
At what point did you know this story was a book?
When the hare was 4 months old, she learned to leap the wall around the garden. She melted invisibly into the landscape of fields and woods, and I thought she was gone forever. But instead she returned, of her own accord, and chose to live a dual life between the wild and my home. The fact that she felt so safe in my house that she wished to return was deeply moving. At that point, I knew I was witnessing something very unusual, and that I wanted to document the story for myself and for others.
What was the hardest memory to get on the page?
There is a painful moment in the story when a beautiful young leveret—one of the hare’s own young—dies unexpectedly. I was deep in the book at this point, writing the story as it unfolded around me. I was devastated by its death, and it was a struggle to avoid letting my emotions swamp the page. I could hardly see for tears.
The hare is an animal that has never been domesticated. It clings on, despite the destruction of the natural landscape.
Was there anything that surprised you as you wrote?
I was surprised by how much action and interest there is in the life of a hare. And I could never have imagined that I could experience such curiosity, interest, joy and satisfaction from living alongside a family of wild animals. Trying to find the words to describe the color and pattern of her fur, watching her conceal herself from predators in the garden, waiting for her young to emerge at night so she could feed them, all these moments captivated me. I was utterly absorbed, and felt more at peace than at any other point in my life.
How do you feel now that you’ve put this story to the page?
I feel closer to nature, more attuned to animals and particularly conscious of the vulnerable lives lived by our remaining wild creatures. The hare is an animal that has never been domesticated. It clings on, despite the destruction of the natural landscape. It is a symbol of beauty, resilience and survival against the odds. This experience has made me more hopeful about the possibility of finding a better balance between humans and nature, and the rewards for all of us if we can manage that.
How have you changed since you started writing the book?
I’d developed a bit of a carapace in order to cope with my work in politics. This experience has allowed me to shed that, and to live in a way that is truer to my own nature. It’s freed me up to be gentler, more patient and more attentive to my surroundings. I’m kinder to myself, and able to give more time to others.
What is the most interesting thing you had to research in order to write this book?
Hares have the very rare ability to carry two separate pregnancies at the same time—a phenomenon known as superfetation. I had the privilege of watching this happen in real life. I then read every study I could find, to understand this extraordinary, and rather controversial, aspect of a hare’s biology. It was also very enjoyable simply trying to pin down the exact differences between rabbits and hares. Before I met the hare, I couldn’t have told you what those differences were, but there are a great many, since they are in fact different species.
Can you describe your book as an item on a menu?
I’d like to think that it would be something unpretentious, nourishing, warm and comforting. Something homemade, and simple. Freshly made bread, perhaps, with a touch of salt.
Photo of Chloe Dalton by Andrew Parsons.
