Book info

• Title Pastures New
• Author Clare Balding
• Year 2025
• Genre Contemporary

Alex has perfected the art of dodging responsibility during her almost 40 years – until an unexpected letter turns her life upside down. She’s inherited a crumbling sheep farm in wildest, wettest Wales. This was not her life plan. Not at all. Now, her closest companion is a stubborn Welsh terrier, she’s speed-reading The Idiot’s Guide to Farming, and her arrival has set the village gossip mill spinning. With the farm near collapse, Alex sets out to uncover the truth behind her mysterious inheritance. But as secrets surface, Alex finds her heart pulling her in a direction she never saw coming. Will she pack her bags – or has she landed exactly where she’s meant to be?

Thoughts

I get annoyed at myself for falling for celebrity names trying their hand at writing a novel, but I was a little bit sucked in to Clare Balding’s debut. It’s not a bad piece at all, the writing is very careful, but engaging nonetheless. The story isn’t exactly a stretch - farming, horse racing, LGBTQ+, etc. The characters are fun though and you’re rooting for good things to happen to good people, so it’s worth a look.

Rating: 3 / 5