Horatio Clare writes across several genres but is perhaps best known for his travel writing. This memoir is his first book and also the first book of his I've read, and wow - what a talent.

Clare's parents were working for newspapers in London when they decided to buy a country bolt-hole to get away from the city at the weekends. Not one for doing things by half measures, his mother Jenny fell in love with a decrepit farm house high up in the Welsh mountains and their second jobs as part-time sheep farmers began. This is not farming for the faint-hearted; the elevation up to the house is so steep it can be impossible to get even deliveries of oil at times, the weather is severe in winter and all year round there are heavy, intensive jobs to do with the animals, from lambing to sheering and dipping and moving the flock around the mountain. It quickly becomes obvious to Clare's father that they have bitten off more than they can chew, yet Jenny falls in love with the mountain solitude and before long they have drifted apart and Jenny is left single-handedly raising their two boys whilst managing the farm.

Part memoir, part fictional dramatisation from his parents' diaries, this book was more than I expected. Clare writes with unflinching honesty about the highs and lows of their extraordinary setting, not just from his childhood memories but also with an adult perspective of his mother's steely determination to hold onto her life on the mountain. Whilst he pays homage the idyll of his wild, outdoorsy childhood he equally doesn't hold back from facing square on the utter madness of his mother's decision to stick it out despite the financial and physical hardships they faced. She's a wonderful character under Clare's penmanship - eccentric, funny, wilful and brave, and he recognises that really hers is the true story to be told.

A wonderfully written book, and highly recommended to those who enjoy books set in nature.

4 stars - I'm looking forward to reading more by this author. ( )

Reconstructed account of a couple - parents of the author - who bought a farm in Wales and attempted to run it. Occasional light humour, lots of description. Very well-written but not much family/human interest. ( )

I picked this book up from my local library because I needed a book about sheep for one of my reading challenges. I wasn't sure from the title if I would enjoy it, but I since my wife is from England I thought I would enjoy reading about Wales as much as I enjoyed visiting the last time we went over. Wow. I was really surprised by this book. It is both about growing up on the sheep farm and about family, in equal parts.

The book starts somewhat in the middle, then is told through the eyes of the author as a child growing up and continues in a natural order into his nearing adulthood. The storytelling is quite balanced and the author is honest about how life was on the farm with little money to manage it. He is also honest about the situation between his mother and father and what drives them to the decisions they make. I was surprised that I couldn't put the book down.

I suggest that anyone who runs into this book should pick it up and give it a try. ( )