Hare House is not its real name, of course. I have, if you will forgive me, kept names to a minimum here, for reasons that will become understandable . . .
In the first brisk days of autumn, a woman arrives in Scotland having left her job at an all-girls school in London in mysterious circumstances. Moving into a cottage on the remote estate of Hare House, she begins to explore her new home. But among the tiny roads, wild moorland, and scattered houses, something more sinister lurks: local tales of witchcraft, clay figures and young men sent mad.
Striking up a friendship with her landlord and his younger sister, she begins to suspect that all might not be quite as it seems at Hare House. And as autumn turns to winter, and a heavy snowfall traps the inhabitants of the estate within its walls, tensions rise to fever pitch.
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Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe was published in paperback in September 2022 by Pan Macmillan.
Hare House was the choice of my local book group for our November read. I'd heard of this novel before, but have never read the author. I wasn't really quite sure what I was going to get, but packed my copy for my four-day break to Portugal at the end of October and absolutely devoured it in one day!
The group discussed the book last night. It was a lively and intelligent debate, with varying views of the book. I'm going to try my best not to let other member's opinions sway my review!
As I said last night at book group. I loved this book. I am a huge fan of the unreliable narrator and in Hare House we have one of the very best. I personally quite liked her (she remains without a name throughout the story). I always think that it must be more difficult to create a flawed character who often makes very strange decisions than to produce a lovely, fluffy, kind person!
There is no doubt that this is a novel that the reader has to work on. Very little is actually explained and the ending feels some abrupt. However, I do like that type of book. I like an ending that makes me ponder, that makes me think about what may or may not have happened.
Our narrator has moved into a remote cottage that is situated on the Hare House estate in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. We know that she left her teaching job under mysterious circumstances, but we have no idea what these are.
There are not many other people about. A strange woman called Janet lives in the adjoining cottage and Hare House is occupied by Grant and his teenage sister Cass. Their parents are dead and these two young people now run the estate.
As the narrator explores her cottage and the surrounding area, she realises that there is certainly something sinister about the place. Especially Hare Hall which contains a collection of stuffed hares, mounted in cases in the entrance hall. Hares do play a large part in this story, from the opening paragraph, right through to the ending chapters.
What I loved most about Hare House was the fabulous sense of place. Despite me reading this in the sunshine of Portugal, I was easily transported to the cold, rain and snow of Scotland. The author cleverly incorporates the landscape and the weather to create more tension to her story.
The characters are quite odd. It's difficult to find much to admire or like about any of them. Grant seems weak, his sister Cass is fragile and vulnerable. Janet next door is downright rude, but seems to know a lot about what has happened in the area. Then there is Ann, with her two dogs, seen by the narrator, but not noticed by anyone else.
Decide for yourself about the witchcraft and the madness. We could look at each character and assume that, yes, they are a witch ... but are they, or are they just regular people with terrible traits?
The reader needs to invest a lot into this story. I enjoyed every page, I was gripped, I loved the setting, I was enchanted by the mystery. Recommended by me.
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