In the Dark Eyes of the Rabbit

Debra Daniel perfectly captures what it is like to be a twelve-year-old girl in a particular place and time, while also touching upon the universality of that precious age between childhood and teenager. Interspersed throughout IN THE DARK EYES OF THE RABBIT is advice on how to live from Retta’s mother, father, and grandmother, bringing to mind Jamaica Kencaid’s “Girl.” But it is Retta herself whose voice rings loudest as she is “lost to the wonderment of life and love and dying and secrets and truths and how people sink and how they float…”
—Ann Hood, NY Times Best Selling Author of The Stolen Child and The Book that Matters Most

“Debra Daniel has a rare knack for combining depth and humour, substance and charm. In the Dark Eyes of the Rabbit is at once a tender depiction of the dynamics of a family, a vivid coming-of-age narrative, an unforgettable portrayal of a grandmother, and an astute study of fracture and repair within relationships. It’s warm and funny and poignant — I immediately wanted to read it again.”
— Michael Loveday author of Unlocking the Novella-in-Flash and Three Men on the Edge

“I loved this novella-in-flash on many levels. I liked its close focus on the life of a family in the USA in the 1960s and how they navigate day-to-day situations. I liked the POV, in the strong and believable voice of a twelve year old girl and the way she thinks about her family and relates to them. The adults are flawed but believable — a fearful grandmother who makes doom-laden remarks and has many strange habits, a self-preoccupied mother, a father who spends much time away from the home and an aunt who reveals family secrets. The novella is moving, and also has humour — a great combination. The use of the rabbit motif threading through, adds a further depth. In the end, the family, in crisis, does pull together.”
— Jude Higgins, author of Clearly Defined Clouds and founder of the Bath Novella-in-Flash Award