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The Borrowed Hills

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The Borrowed Hills

By: Scott Preston
Narrated by: David Crellin
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About this listen

'Viscerally vivid . . . a sucker-punch of a novel, edged with knife-sharp black humour and shot through with moments of startling beauty . . . half Tarantino and half pitch-black northern realism' Guardian

'A tremendously exciting novel . . . A brilliantly realized voice: Steve's every utterance is the product of where he comes from . . . as blunt and brutal as the fells he works among' Times Literary Supplement

'A spiky, precisely focused novel with flavour, intensity, and oodles of character' The Times

'Preston's debut arrives like a punch to the gut . . . This is an elemental tale shaded in tones of heroism, machismo, moral intensity, and mythmaking. It's also a love song to the landscape . . . Gritty, gripping, and fearlessly committed' Kirkus

'A blistering debut . . . This dark and inspired tale pulses with life' Publishers Weekly

'Taught, intelligent and beautifully told' M. J. Hyland

'A startlingly original addition to the literature of northern England' Ian McGuire

'A powerful evocation of a landscape and a way of life' Joseph Kanon

With foot and mouth disease spreading across the hills of Cumbria, emptying the valleys of sheep and filling the skies with smoke, two neighbouring shepherds lose everything and put aside their rivalry to join forces. They set their sights on a wealthy farm in the south with its flock of prize-winning animals. So begins the dark tale of Steve Elliman and William Herne.

Their sheep rustling leads to more and more difficult decisions, and Steve's only distraction is his growing fascination with William's enigmatic and independent wife, Helen. As their home comes under the sway of a lawless outsider, it is left to Steve to save himself and Helen in a savage conflict that threatens an ancient way of life.

Lyrical, cinematic and steeping in folklore, Scott Preston creates an uncompromising vision of farmers lost in brutal devotion to their flocks, the aching love affairs that men and women use to sustain themselves and the painful consequences of a breathtaking heist gone bad. The Borrowed Hills is a thrilling adventure that reimagines the American Western for the fells of northern England.©2024 Scott Preston (P)2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural
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What listeners say about The Borrowed Hills

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Loved it

I absolutely loved this. The story and the narration, so well done. I was gripped.

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A glorious gritty tale that I couldn't stop listening too

As a proud Cumbrian I am glad to report that David Crellin gave a stellar performance and executed evey word of this tale correctly, often reminding me of my friends of family and their strange dialect. The story is dark and gruesome, forcing me to want to listen to every second of it. Scott Preston has created something incredible. Somehow he has taken the best qualities of Cumbrian life, hard working, honest, rude, funny, raw, and proud, then put his wonderful and dark twist on it. I'll never look at the muck covered sheep on the fells the same again.

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Gripping story

A difficult listen at times, but totally enthralling. Highly recommended but be prepared for sone bloody episodes.

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Brutal, gritty, real

I loved this book... did a four hour stretch on audible because I couldn't leave it alone. Like Snitter with a bone

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lyrical action against the fells.

The narrator perfectly evoked the sense of time and place that made the descriptions of shepherding come to life.
This is not my standard fare, but I'm so glad I took a chance.

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Gripping

Gripped from the start, excellent story turned thriller later on. The writing and narrator brings the rough lands of Cumbria to life.

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