Anima

A Wild Pastoral

By: Kapka Kassabova

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Paperback | 30 September 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
384 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 12.9 x 2.4

Paperback

RRP $26.99

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The spellbinding new book by the prizewinning writer Kapka Kassabova tells the story of her time with the last moving pastoralists in Europe: a gripping portrayal of human-animal interdependence, and a plea for a different way of living.

'A book that mesmerises with its sense of adventure and epic sweep, this is creative non-fiction at its best' GUARDIAN

Over the course of one summer, Kapka Kassabova lives with perhaps the last true pastoralists in Europe.

She joins the epic seasonal movement of vast herds of sheep, along with shepherds and dogs, to find pasture in the mountains. As she becomes attuned to the sacrifices inherent in this isolated existence, Kassabova finds herself drawn deeper into the tangled relationships at the heart of this small community.

Anima is a spellbinding portrayal of the human–animal interdependence in pastoral life, and a plea for a different way of living – one where we might all begin to heal our broken relationship with the natural world.

About the Author

Sheila Heti is the author of seven books, including the critically acclaimed How Should a Person Be? and is co-editor of the New York Times bestseller, Women in Clothes. She is the former interviews editor at The Believer magazine, and has been published in the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, McSweeney’s, Harper's and n+1. Her work has been translated into adozen languages. She lives in Toronto.

Industry Reviews

Dark and mysterious and beautiful — Financial Times, praise for Elixir

Aromatic, lyrical, disturbing – and very, very fine — Sunday Times, praise for Border

She had me under her spell from page one — Guardian, praise for Elixir

Uplifting and beautifully written. — Spectator, praise for Elixir

Kassabova possesses a gift that’s bestowed on only the best of travel writers: an ability to zero in on characters who illuminate the condition of a place in time — New York Times

Border brilliantly reveals the effects of a millennium of kaleidoscopic shifting. Thoughtful and impressive — Observer

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