“Every animal needs its own territory and humans are no exception. My plans were clear at an early age. By the time I was fourteen I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I intended to live somewhere wild and supremely beautiful.”

Opening lines of The Sheep Stell

Although written and published far before the current cottagecore trend, The Sheep Stell feels extremely relevant as it’s a cosy yet beautiful paean to the wonders to nature and living in nature.

First published in 1992, The Sheep Stell is a memoir of Janet White’s life with nature, from the United Kingdom to New Zealand and back again. As the opening pages of the book makes it clear, White was destined to live a life surrounded by nature. This isn’t a premise she questions, nor is there any one event that compels her to take up shepherding. She simply wants to live in nature and she finds a way to do so. With such a clear goal in mind, her life decisions make perfect sense – for example, if nature is to be found in New Zealand, then obviously she would go there to work.

Nature is clearly White’s great love and the key character of her book. Other humans only appear when needed; for example, we only learn that White has been exchanging letters with Jim (someone she met in Italy before moving to New Zealand), when she tells us that she got married four months after returning to England. Motherhood appears, and although it’s clear she loves her children, she mainly writes about them in the ways it affects her farming life.

But despite the wild beauty that dominates the book and the happiness that White feels when she’s living in places of unparalleled beauty, it’s clear that her life was not an easy one. Living accommodations are primitive, and there’s a particularly worrying episode where she is attacked by a persistent stalker. But no matter what happens, her love of nature carries her through the highs and lows of life.

Overall, this is a beautiful and transportive memoir that showcases the beauty and power of nature. If you’re craving for some virtual travel to the countryside, this book is going to bring you there.