PASTURES NEW PB

Clare Balding grew up in the countryside surrounded by horses and dogs. A keen reader, she devoured the books of everyone from Jane Austen to Gerald Durrell. After an English literature degree at Cambridge she became a journalist and broadcaster, but always itched to write a book. She has now written nine, including her autobiography, My Animals and Other Family, which won the National Book Award for Autobiography of the Year. Encouraged by Jilly Cooper, she took the leap from her series of children's books and Pastures New is her first adult novel.

Alongside her award-winning broadcasting and coverage of major royal events, Clare hosts her much-loved Ramblings series on Radio 4, exploring Britain's landscape and its storytelling.