The Burrow: A Novel by Melanie Cheng (11/12/24)

A Best Book of November at Oprah Daily, Chicago Review of Books, and Ms. Magazine

“How rare, this delicacy—this calm, sweet, desolated wisdom.”—Helen Garner

A wise and moving story about a family navigating grief, hope, and healing through a bond with a new pet rabbit.

Big-hearted and moving, Melanie Cheng’s The Burrow brings together a family trying to find their way forward in the wake of a devastating loss. Parents Jin and Amy Lee adopt a rabbit for their daughter Lucie in the hopes of restoring a bit of joy to their home in the Australian suburbs, and at first, each family member benefits from the distraction of a new creature in need of care. Things are upended when the arrival of Amy’s estranged mother breaks their fragile sense of peace, and the family is forced to confront the terrible circumstances surrounding their tragedy and to ask themselves whether opening their hearts to the rabbit will help them to heal, or only invite further sorrow.

With compassion and a keen eye for detail, Cheng tenderly reveals the lives of others—even a small rabbit—in an unforgettable novel about grief, hope, and forgiveness.