Native Soil

A contemporary Romance that asks questions about the way we live in the age of mass extinction - in one life, do we fight for place or planet? An absorbing read about a couple torn two ways, with vivid evocations of sweeping landscapes, family loyalties and a dash of science.



Impetuous, rich, and something of a snob, Olivia buys a hill farm and dedicates herself to nature recovery. A tragic accident has left her a widow at 29. No one can compare to the young husband she adored; so, defiantly, she vows never to remarry. Instead she will devote herself to building up the farm as a beacon of restorative agriculture. Her resolve is challenged when she is introduced to television environmentalist and man-with-a-mission Andrew, a hero she has long admired but never before met in real life. Fate, in the shape of land-use politics, brings him to work on her farm, along with his troubled teenage son. A passionate affair develops and runs its course over a moorland summer, under the worried gaze of family and friends on both sides. But Andrew's mission is global, Olivia's vision local; what can their happy ending look like?