Pastures New by Clare Balding

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✦ BLURB ✦

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.

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 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?

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Sometimes home is where you least expect it.

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Pre-Reading Thoughts

I expected heartfelt countryside vibes, some culture clash comedy, a bit of livestock-based chaos, and possibly a life-affirming cup of tea or three. I trusted Balding to bring authenticity to the rural setting, but I was curious how much comfort it would carry alongside the grit.

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Post-Reading

As I thought...
Absolutely packed with charm. The Welsh setting is rich and real - you can practically feel the drizzle on your boots - and Alex is the perfect “reluctant inheritor” heroine: sarcastic, smart, and in way over her head. The humour is natural, the emotional beats feel earned, and the animals have more personality than some book protagonists I’ve met. It’s exactly the kind of book you want to curl up with on a rainy weekend. It could maybe have done with a couple less scenes of "Alex calls her mother, her mother doesn't tell her things, they both sulk" but that's a minor complaint when the language is so good.

It surprised me by...
How emotional it got. There’s a steady heartbeat of grief, regret, and personal reinvention underneath the quirky village setup, and it never feels forced. The mystery behind the inheritance adds a thread of intrigue, but the real treasure here is the slow unfurling of a woman discovering her own strength—and her own idea of home. Also: the dog? Total scene-stealer.

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✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

📚 The Lido by Libby Page
📺 This Farming Life (BBC) with a healthy dash of Doc Martin

✦ MUSIC PAIRING ✦

Because sometimes, the heart of a story plays out like a song.

Featured Song: “Homeward Bound” – Ball & Boe (or Simon & Garfunkel if you’re feeling classic)
Vibe Album: Fossora – Björk (for its earthy, messy, grounded beauty)
Artist Recommendation: Kate Rusby – gently folky, quietly fierce

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

Colour Palette: Slate grey, sheep’s wool white, green so vibrant it’s suspicious

Soundtrack: Rain on a tin roof, sheep bleating, a distant kettle boiling

Season: Early spring - muddy, hopeful, a little chaotic

Mood: Rooted resilience

Scent: Wet wool, strong tea, and hay that’s been sitting just a bit too long

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

The Chariot - Labyrinth Tarot

Not for speed, but for determination and direction. Alex doesn’t always know where she’s going, but she learns to steer.

Pastures New publishes on the 11th of September, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.