Pastures New by Clare Balding

 

About the book

Sometimes home is where you least expect it...

Alex has perfected the art of dodging responsibility during her almost 40 years - until an unexpected letter turns her life upside down.

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 and its community now relying on her, Alex sets out to uncover the truth behind her mysterious inheritance. Then she can finally get back to the carefree life she thought she wanted.

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? 

 

What I thought 

Well, I'll be honest, I gave this a try purely out of curiosity because it was written by a TV celebrity. As far as I knew, Clare Balding is a sports commentator and that's about all I knew, but I liked the book cover and it sounded interesting. I didn't realise she was an ex jockey and horses and horse racing isn't of any interest to me. I've been to the races twice in my life, and it's not something I would wish to repeat. Nevertheless I thought the horse racing story line was interesting because Clare is very knowledgeable on this subject which made me realise there's far more to horse racing than just running round a field.

On the whole I did quite enjoy the book, though perhaps Jeremy Clarkson's style of farming is more my thing. But on a serious note, it does highlight how much of a financial struggle farming is and it did make for interesting reading. I did enjoy it mostly, though the romance part isn't for me. I'm not keen on romantic fiction. I think if it had completely dropped the romance side and concentrated in a bit more detail on the farm business, the horse training and the storyline of Alex's mum and dad I would have enjoyed it more.

In all fairness, it's not a book I would normally be drawn to, and as I said, I did choose to read it out of a sense of curiosity. If you enjoy a book with some romance and a reasonably happy ever after, then this is the book for you.

⭐⭐⭐

💙 Happy Reading 💙

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Thank you to the publisher Harper Collins for an advance review copy via Netgalley.

The book is out today 11 September and is available in hardback, e-book and audio from book retailers including Amazon