This is not a cheery book, but like those Vermont woods in winter, it shimmers with a stark loveliness ... Part of the novel’s strength lies in its passionate portrait of Vermont. Rose views both the grandeurs and the terrors of the rural woods with an artist’s senses ... As well as painting a damning portrait of income inequality, Finn burnishes her credentials as an environmentalist ... enough to turn any reader into a vegan ... By the time a serial killer is on the loose, the novel has metamorphosed into a gritty, fast-paced thriller. For some readers, the novel’s last third may contain a plot twist (and brutal death) or two too many. This reader found a climactic story line involving an art heist unconvincing. But for the most part, Finn manages to make the two seemingly contradictory impulses of The Hare — the meditative character study and the densely plotted mystery — coexist. Finn is unafraid to address big moral questions — what D. H. Lawrence might write, if he lived in a world of Brett Kavanaugh hearings, cars with crushing repair bills and secret child pornography websites.
Finn’s prose has a painful beauty to it, the allure of the writing illuminated by the subtle horror of the plot ... It’s a timeless tale, repeated again and again: the cultural pressure that is driven into women to be obedient, to accept their role and what they are given, to finish what they have started even if that requires submission. Rules which are particularly applicable to romantic relationships. Yet Finn gives the familiar a fresh take that is much-needed for the present day, making it clear as the story progresses that Rosie has an inner strength, an instinct to endure and persevere; in short: she will be no victim ... Rosie is an unforgettable character who burrows her way deep into the reader’s heart where she will not be forgotten. You will feel for her, cheer for her, hope for her as you reflect upon how you also have been trapped by your own life decisions at one time or another. The Hare is the type of book you will appreciate even more after stepping away and reflecting upon it, as the tale lingers in the back of your mind.
This is a page-turner about a tough woman and her con-artist lout of a partner, and I will eat my laptop if it doesn’t get optioned for TV or film the minute it hits bookshelves. It is also woven through with ideas about feminism, parenting, narcissism, and self-sufficiency — a book that is easy to read without being remotely lightweight. It is published by Two Dollar Radio, a small press out of Columbus, Ohio, which I think of as the Barry Bonds of small presses: They hit an astonishing number of home runs.
... involving, morally complex ... Ms. Finn is a sensitive observer of Rosie’s circumstances and the depictions of poverty, in particular, are real and omnipresent, yet they’re never essentializing. Rosie is a difficult character, full of anger, generosity and self-doubt, and her muddle is the stuff of true tragedy.
... smart and atmospheric, with the pull of a literary thriller but with meat and heart ... Rosie is an amazingly complex character, and Finn captures her porous self so well ... I felt so close to the setting, too, I could often hear the fallen leaves crunching underfoot, or smell the woodstove smoke on a crisp winter evening. The complicated relationship between mother and daughter, cocooned together in a life of survival and secrets in a cabin in Vermont, is also captured well here. Finn is a master of complication made visible through taut and beautiful words. I highly recommend this book.
... a critical examination of one woman’s struggle not only to survive but also to rear her daughter in such a way as to protect her from the same hardships Rosie herself has undergone. In many ways, Rosie is a turn-of-the-21st-century white American Everywoman: seduced by a dream of riches before being confronted by grinding poverty and a near-complete lack of social net, while criminals and con artists wait to prey on her. The feminism she displays as she ages, like her stubborn independence, is hard-earned ... Fortunately for us readers, prose is a medium that can showcase squalor without sanctifying, as Ms. Finn so searingly does here in this suspenseful examination of a life overshadowed by arguably necessary crimes. It can be hard to root for Rosie at times, but there’s no denying that her interior life is a realistic portrayal of a certain kind of American womanhood that is both familiar and frustrating. By the end, however, I was one hundred percent on her side, in large part due to the fact that she had also come around to finally putting herself first.
... gives us an important, comprehensive picture of the stages of a woman’s learning, suggesting, that over time, teachers will be rejected, new ones sought, and the student might herself become a teacher. The need to adapt, however, to be on guard, to figure out new methods of surviving will be life-long, the way it is for an animal in the wild, hyper-conscious of its vulnerability.
... [Rosie's] transformation is moving. Still, some of Rosie’s later conflicts are gratuitous ancillaries to her story, present most to force Rosie to opine on social topics; in particular, her initially resentful reaction toward a transwoman weighs down her otherwise buoyant pursuit of self. The Hare is a bold and authentic novel concerned with the time-consuming, socially defiant, and brutal work of women’s self-actualization.
... will certainly inspire a sense of urgency and a cheer for the underdog in anyone who dives into it. In this reader, the narrative also provoked less easily digestible emotions ... The author describes their courtship elegantly, though there are times when she makes too much of a point of Rosie’s artlessness ... Despite the centrality of Rosie and Bennett’s relationship to the book, author Finn narrows the focus to Rosie after yet another earth-shattering event involving both of them. It’s rewarding to watch how Rosie’s life unspools without the specter of Bennett over it, though the existence she cultivates is far from perfect ... Readers will have to decide for themselves whether they find the conclusion of this engaging novel satisfying — when Rosie’s life, never easy, takes a last, unexpected turn that forces her hand once again.
After being drawn in by The Hare’s innocuous looking seafoam green, rose- adorned cover, I was surprised at the violence in its pages ... excels in the vivid images Finn uses to draw a contrast between such everyday gore and seemingly more nefarious events. Throughout the novel, Finn manages to balance pairs of contrasting images, one extraordinary, one mundane, in order to highlight the menace just below the surface of everyday elements ... Rosie’s fast paced story exposes the dramatic brutality of ordinary life ... While righteous in her anger towards men and their apathy, at this point in the novel, I was waiting for Rosie’s feminism to grow from 'fuck you' to 'fuck off' and therefore beyond a definition of womanhood based on men’s actions. Finn invites a discussion of femininity and what it means to be a woman. Is it defined by what one has to endure? My hope for Rosie’s manifesto was for it to be constructive rather than reactive. Not only to aid in Rosie’s own integration and healing, but to move beyond such a strict gender binary ... my greatest wish for Rose was to experience womanhood as more than obligation and survival. I’m sure she thirsts for more.
This is a page-turner about a tough woman and her con-artist lout of a partner, and I will eat my laptop if it doesn’t get optioned for TV or film the minute it hits bookshelves ... a book that is easy to read without being remotely lightweight. It is published by Two Dollar Radio, a small press out of Columbus, Ohio, which I think of as the Barry Bonds of small presses: They hit an astonishing number of home runs.
Finn offers a chilling account of the ways women can be abused, with sexual assault, psychological trauma, objectification, and murder crossing class boundaries. Yet as she also shows, women often cannot escape the cages they have helped to build around their lives. A #MeToo tale that will also appeal to general readers.
This thought-provoking literary thriller from Finn...brilliantly depicts the effects of patriarchy on women and their sense of duty to please men. This resilient heroine embodies the evolution of feminism in a male-dominant society, making this a poignant story for our time.
... propulsive ... harrowing ... Though there are too many narrative threads at play, Finn underscores the impact abuse has on Rosie’s psyche, while charting a course for the character’s resilience. This lurid tale will keep readers turning the pages.
