Pastures New

From Celebrity Traitors contestant Clare Balding comes the perfect novel for anyone who has ever dreamt of a fresh start…

‘Funny, sensitive, and insightful – the perfect book to turn to at the end of a long day’ Bonnie Garmus

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?

The perfect feel-good read for autumn 2025, and a joyful celebration of new beginnings, community and rural life – buy your copy today!

Readers love Pastures New:

'Books like [this] have become my safe haven … like a long country walk with a bit of rain and a warm fireplace in the pub at the end'

About the Author

Clare Balding grew up in the countryside surrounded by horses and dogs, and reading everything from Jilly Cooper to Henry James. Her autobiography, My Animals and Other Family, won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year and she has also written a series of children's books set around a girl and her horse. After an English Literature degree at Cambridge she became a journalist.

Alongside her award-winning Olympics and Wimbledon broadcasting and coverage of major royal events, Clare hosts her much-loved Ramblings series on Radio 4, taking her across the British Isles exploring its landscape and its storytelling. A passionate campaigner for equality and women's sport, Clare was awarded a CBE in 2022.