Not sure what to read next? We asked four nature and countryside specialists to recommend their three top books of the last year – perfect for reading on long winter nights
January
THE FARMER’S WIFE
BY HELEN REBANKS (FABER & FABER)
With recipes and illustrations, The Farmer’s Wife is a lovely read about ordinary life on a farm. Helen writes brilliantly about the constant juggle: kids, meals, animals, paperwork, more meals. It’s familiar to any working parent and yet the setting is a Lake District farm in all its unvarnished reality. It rains, animals die, kids argue, life goes on, “a constant remaking and reshaping,” she says.
ROOTED
BY SARAH LANGFORD (PENGUIN)
Sarah Longford was a barrister. But life changes led to her taking over the managing of her husband’s parents’ small farm in Suffolk. This is a beautifully written, sometimes poetic book about her farming experience and the people she meets. There are heartbreaking tales of falling incomes and broken promises as Sarah puts a human face on the choices farmers are having to make now.
THE FLOW
BY AMY-JANE BEER (BLOOMSBURY) The Flow is a very different book. It was born out of a tragedy: Amy-Jane Beer’s friend died in a kayaking accident and it’s years before Amy-Jane can bring herself to return to that spot on the river. When she does, she takes us with her. The book unfolds in a fascinating mix of research into our waterways and gut-wrenching emotion. I can’t find the words to do it justice; read it!
Charlotte Smith
COUNTRYFILE PRESENTER AND BBC BROADCASTER
A familiar face on our screens, Countryfile and Farming Today presenter Charlotte Smith has been a judge for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for nature and conservation writing for several years.
I CAN HEAR THE CUCKOO
BY KIRAN SIDHU (GAIA)
As the dark of winter closes in, Sidhu’s soothing prose in I Can Hear the Cuckoo will envelop you like a warm, comforting blanket. After the painful loss of her mother, Sidhu relocates to the Welsh Valleys (below) and finds a new sense of belonging through friendships in her local community. Her interactions with Wilf, a farmer, are particularly memorable. Through his eyes, she learns to find solace in the simple pleasures that nature offers.
THE GOLDEN MOLE
BY KATHERINE RUNDELL, ILLUSTRATED BY TALYA BALDWIN (FABER & FABER)
Illuminating on the inside and on the outside, The Golden Mole (above) is a dazzling read. Rundell presents a compe
