Rural
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2024
‘Eye-opening and persuasive’ SUNDAY TIMES
‘Brilliant … I loved it’ KIT DE WAAL
‘Thoughtful, moving, honest’ CAL FLYN
*Winner of The Lakeland Book of the Year 2024*
Work in the countryside ties you, soul and salary, to the land. But often those who labour in nature have the least control over what happens there.
Why have our rural industries been replaced by tourism? Why can't people stay living in the places they grew up? In this beautifully observed book, Rebecca Smith traces the stories of foresters and millworkers, miners, builders, farmers and pub owners, to paint a picture of the working class lives that often go overlooked. This is a book for anyone who loves and longs for the countryside.
Rebecca Smith is a non-fiction author and journalist from Cumbria. She worked for BBC Radio for over a decade producing a variety of programmes including news and features and has written for The New York Times, The Guardian and The Sunday Times. She has a Masters in Creative Writing at Glasgow University and now lives in Central Scotland with her three children and partner.