The Leveret
3499
The Leveret
3499
A heartbreakingly gorgeous and lyrically haunting debut novel about grief in the aftermath of baby loss and the power of queer love - perfect for fans of Julia Armfield, Sophie Mackintosh and Daisy Johnson Moving to the countryside is supposed to fix Clare and Phoebe's relationship. A fresh start, a change of scenery, a chance to heal after the miscarriage of their baby girl. Instead, Phoebe feels suffocated. Back in the rural community she ran from at seventeen and unable to face the partner she cannot help, she throws herself into work on the family farm. Clare is a stranger in the village, uninitiated and out of place. She spends her days drifting around the cottage, its walls groaning and shifting as she withdraws into a world inside her head. One day, wandering through the forest nearby, Clare finds a leveret - her own little Isla. A surrogate to lick and love. A way to feel whole again. But as Isla grows into an adult hare she becomes wild and unruly - a kicking, biting, scratching creature. With Clare's grasp on reality growing ever more tenuous, Phoebe begins to question whether Isla is the cure for grief Clare is searching for as she desperately clings on to the woman she loves . . . With this bruisingly tender love story, debut author Anna Goldreich has conjured a hazy dream of a novel about the fantasies we create as a refuge from grief. The Leveret is a heartbreakingly gorgeous and lyrically haunting hymn to queer love and the power to rebuild from the wreckage of a relationship.
The Leveret is a mesmerising and haunting debut from a rare and singular talent. Anna Goldreich has written something so deeply stirring, heartbreaking and filled with ache, it transcends words. Turning the last pages, I was completely speechless. Anna's is a once in a generation talent -- Lucy Rose, author of 'The Lamb'
Goldreich's novel tracks a careful line through ideas of delusion, love and the nastily isolating nature of baby loss with precise and piercing lyricism * Daily Mail *
A vivid and mesmerisingly powerful debut . . . Goldreich’s spare, beautiful prose captures the essence of both women’s struggle to grapple not only with the pain of loss but the ever-yawning rift it has opened between them * Marie Claire *
From the Norwich-based writer Anna Goldreich, The Leveret revolves around Clare and Phoebe, who believe that moving to the countryside will solve their marital woes and give their relationship a new lease of life, especially after the miscarriage of the daughter they were expecting . . . Tissues at the ready * Sunday Times Style *
Hugely intense and beautifully unsettling - a searing, intimate novel about grief’s wildness — I couldn’t look away -- Orla Mackey, author of 'Mouthing'
A brilliantly written, brave debut. The Leveret is deeply affecting about the ferocity of care, and it bounds with all the pain and beauty that comes with that -- Cynan Jones, author of 'The Dig'
Bruisingly poignant and quietly uneasy, this is a story of loss and isolation that will stay with you long after reading * Cold Magazine *
A haunting and heartbreaking exploration of baby loss within a queer relationship, delicately exploring how a couple might react differently following the loss of a child depening on who carried the baby * Stylist, 'Best Debuts 2026' *
A compelling read . . . Where Anna Goldreich scores is in her visceral treatment of grief, which really hits home. And the way she draws the relationship between Clare and Phoebe is imbued with a real truth * Crack Magazine *
Details
ISBN13: 9780241782040
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 208
Edition:
Publication Date: 29 Sep 2026
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 21.5(H)x13.5(L)x1.7(W)218
Weight (gm): 218
Author Biography
Anna Goldreich is a writer based in Norwich. She holds a Creative Writing Prose Fiction MA from the University of East Anglia and her writing has been shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize 2022 and was awarded the Mslexia Short Story Runner-up Prize 2025. Her debut novel, The Leveret, is one of the most anticipated books of the year according to Sunday Times Style and Glamour. She is the co-founder of Queer Birders Norfolk.Reviews
A triumphant first novel . . . This bold debut about a woman finding healing after a late miscarriage is written with utter conviction . . . highly accomplished, calmly devastating and eerily moving * Guardian *The Leveret is a mesmerising and haunting debut from a rare and singular talent. Anna Goldreich has written something so deeply stirring, heartbreaking and filled with ache, it transcends words. Turning the last pages, I was completely speechless. Anna's is a once in a generation talent -- Lucy Rose, author of 'The Lamb'
Goldreich's novel tracks a careful line through ideas of delusion, love and the nastily isolating nature of baby loss with precise and piercing lyricism * Daily Mail *
A vivid and mesmerisingly powerful debut . . . Goldreich’s spare, beautiful prose captures the essence of both women’s struggle to grapple not only with the pain of loss but the ever-yawning rift it has opened between them * Marie Claire *
From the Norwich-based writer Anna Goldreich, The Leveret revolves around Clare and Phoebe, who believe that moving to the countryside will solve their marital woes and give their relationship a new lease of life, especially after the miscarriage of the daughter they were expecting . . . Tissues at the ready * Sunday Times Style *
Hugely intense and beautifully unsettling - a searing, intimate novel about grief’s wildness — I couldn’t look away -- Orla Mackey, author of 'Mouthing'
A brilliantly written, brave debut. The Leveret is deeply affecting about the ferocity of care, and it bounds with all the pain and beauty that comes with that -- Cynan Jones, author of 'The Dig'
Bruisingly poignant and quietly uneasy, this is a story of loss and isolation that will stay with you long after reading * Cold Magazine *
A haunting and heartbreaking exploration of baby loss within a queer relationship, delicately exploring how a couple might react differently following the loss of a child depening on who carried the baby * Stylist, 'Best Debuts 2026' *
A compelling read . . . Where Anna Goldreich scores is in her visceral treatment of grief, which really hits home. And the way she draws the relationship between Clare and Phoebe is imbued with a real truth * Crack Magazine *