Running for the Hills

When Jenny and Robert fall in love in the late 1960s they decide to build a new future together, away from the city. They escape to an isolated sheep farm nestled on a mountainside. It has no running water but it is beautiful and rugged. Their young sons can roam wild.

As their flock struggles, money runs low and rain drives in horizontally across the fields, inside the ancient house their marriage begins to unravel. Wilful and romantic, Jenny refuses to abandon her farm. She will bring her boys up single-handedly on the mountain. Together they embark on a perilous adventure.

Running for the Hills is astonishing family memoir - Horatio Clare vividly recreates his mother's extraordinary way of life and his own bewitching childhood in a magical story of love and struggle.

“The young family has to face the hardships that small farmers and smallholders endure everywhere - The TimesA tender, eloquent book about love, the power of the land and the price to paid for living out one's dreams - Sarah DunantA joy ... heartening, raw, tender. - John Carey, Sunday TimesTouching, funny and extremely well-written - TelegraphEnchanting ... magical ... so beautifully written that you almost hold your breath' - Daily MailA major talent - Marie ClareBeautifully written ... crammed with precious details ... It should be required reading - GuardianIt is the prose equivalent of a collection of poems by Ted Hughes - or Wordsworth - Sunday Times”

The young family has to face the hardships that small farmers and smallholders endure everywhere - The Times

A tender, eloquent book about love, the power of the land and the price to paid for living out one's dreams - Sarah Dunant

A joy ... heartening, raw, tender. - John Carey, Sunday Times

Touching, funny and extremely well-written - Telegraph

Enchanting ... magical ... so beautifully written that you almost hold your breath' - Daily Mail

A major talent - Marie Clare

Beautifully written ... crammed with precious details ... It should be required reading - Guardian

It is the prose equivalent of a collection of poems by Ted Hughes - or Wordsworth - Sunday Times

Horatio Clare has worked on Front Row and Nightwaves, and produced Radio 3's The Verb. Born in 1973, Clare has written for The Spectator, the New Statesman, the Guardian, and the Daily Telegraph.

When Jenny and Robert fall in love in the late 1960s they decide to build a new future together, away from the city. They escape to an isolated sheep farm nestled on a mountainside. It has no running water but it is beautiful and rugged. Their young sons can roam wild. As their flock struggles, money runs low and rain drives in horizontally across the fields, inside the ancient house their marriage begins to unravel. Wilful and romantic, Jenny refuses to abandon her farm. She will bring her boys up single-handedly on the mountain. Together they embark on a perilous adventure. Running for the Hills is astonishing family memoir - Horatio Clare vividly recreates his mother's extraordinary way of life and his own bewitching childhood in a magical story of love and struggle.

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