NPR's Book of the Day In Sara Levine’s novel 'The Hitch,' a corgi’s soul enters a little boy’s body
Feb 3, 2026
Sara Levine, author of The Hitch, mixes horror, comedy and metaphysics in a novel about parenting gone sideways. She discusses a corgi-possessed child, shaping and mis-shaping kids, and writing a shapeshifter who may be real or imagined. The conversation touches on satire, midlife restlessness, and love that refuses easy answers.
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Love Through A Zany Premise
- The novel uses a zany premise to explore how to truly love others without trying to reshape them.
- Sara Levine frames the corgi possession as a metaphor for the obstacles to unconditional love.
Pregnancy Sparked The Theme
- Levine links her pregnancy experience to the book's theme of imposing expectations on children.
- She admits she already tried to shape her unborn child by imagining them as a reader like herself.
The Corgi As Metaphor
- The Hitch (Hazel) represents energies in children that adults find unruly or inconvenient.
- Levine uses the corgi as a shapeshifter metaphor for aspects adults try to 'route out' of kids.
