Pastures New
- Author Clare Balding
- Narrator Clare Balding
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date 11 September 2025
- Run Time 9 hours and 48 minutes
- Format x-book®
- Genre Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Family life fiction, Humorous fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Small town communities / small town life.
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- 1-5
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What to expect
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'
Critics Review
‘A moving story of a young woman finding herself with the help of a Welsh farm’ Katie Fforde
n‘Warm, witty, wise, wonderful' Gyles Brandreth
n'It romps along and is stuffed with appealing characters, both human and animal' Daily Mail
n'Perfect if you are in the mood for something brimming with warmth and thought' Adele Parks, Platinum
nn Praise for Clare Balding's books:n
n'A heart-warming story' Jacqueline Wilson
n'Funny and touching' Telegraph
n'Moving, funny and larger than life' Michael Morpurgo
n'Magical, enchanting, riotously eccentric' Daily Mail
n'Simply fabulous' Jilly Cooper
n'Funny and unexpectedly wise' Mail on Sunday
n'The reading equivalent of snuggling by the fire with a labrador' The Guardian
n'So good you just don't want Clare to grow up' Jennifer Saunders
n‘Forthright, thoughtful, funny … reads like a Jilly Cooper novel’ Sunday Times
n‘Funny and moving, James Herriot meets David Sedaris’ The Times
n'You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want a horse' Caitlin Moran
nUser Reviews
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