Havering Friends of the Earth

Environment-inspired Novels

by Rosina Purnell; first published 15-Nov-2024

Not everyone who cares about the environment wants to read factual reports and documents! Here are my suggestions for some fascinating novels which focus on different settings where the surrounding area has a great influence on people and their behaviour.

Running for the Hills by Horatio Clare

This is a family memoir which charts the life of two boys brought up by their single mother on a Welsh mountain sheep farm. It's beautifully written and describes a dedication to the land which is heart-breaking.

Pollard by Laura Beatty

This is the story of teenager Anne who is a misfit in her family and runs away to live in the woods. The Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire is the inspiration for this pacy novel. It describes the reality of foraging, hunting and building a weather proof shelter.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Award winning First Nation American writer Louise Erdrich describes the exploitation of the Ojibwe people in the 1950s. They had to fight to save their life as an indigenous tribe. The descriptions of the harsh, dismal life on the Indian reservation and the characters who live there are totally gripping.

The Other Side of the Dale by Gervase Phinn

This charming and amusing novel describes the life of a newly appointed school inspector in the Yorkshire Dales. There are some laugh out loud moments when the Dales school children put him on the spot on more than one occasion. There are some wonderful descriptions of the countryside and difficult to find Dales schools. Phinn comments on his arrival at one in particular that he "felt that sort of pioneering triumph which Christopher Columbus, Captain Cook and Scott of the Antarctic must have felt on arriving at their destinations after their difficult journeys".

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

This crime novel is set in the marshes of North Carolina. Kya grows up as an abandoned child who learns to survive in a cruel environment. She collects shells and feathers, seeking refuge among the creatures of the marsh - gulls, herons and hawks. The novel develops as an unusual murder mystery and has been made into a film.