"HALF TARANTINO AND HALF PITCH-BLACK NORTHERN REALISM... A VISCERALLY VIVID PORTRAIT OF DESPERATION SHOT THROUGH WITH MOMENTS OF STARTLING BEAUTY"
​THE GUARDIAN
"THIS DARK AND INSPIRED TALE PULSES WITH LIFE"
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (BOXED REVIEW)
"PRESTON'S DEBUT ARRIVES LIKE A PUNCH TO THE GUT. 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 (STARRED REVIEW)
"AN EXHILARATING PANORAMA OF A COUNTRY'S UNDERBELLY...
TREMENDOUSLY EXCITING, EXECUTED WITH BLOOD-PUMPING APLOMB [AND A] BRILLIANTLY REALIZED VOICE"
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
"A POWERFUL DEBUT... PRECISELY FOCUSED WITH FLAVOUR, INTENSITY AND OODLES OF CHARACTER"​
THE TIMES
"SCARY AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING. THIS ISN'T YOUR USUAL ODE TO THE COUNTRYSIDE"
★★★★★
THE SUN (PICK OF THE WEEK)
"EQUAL PARTS CORMAC MCCARTHY AND ROSS RAISIN...
A LYRICAL ACCOUNT OF DESPERATE MEN"
THE OBSERVER
"BEGUILING AND DARKLY HUMOROUS"
THE i (BEST BOOKS OF APRIL)
"A STORY OF ANGER AND VIOLENCE, DEVOTION, LOVE, AND BACK-BREAKING HARD WORK,
TOLD WITH DARK, DEAD-PAN HUMOUR, AND A ROUGH KIND OF POETRY"
CARYS DAVIES, AUTHOR OF WEST AND CLEAR
"TAUT, INTELLIGENT, AND BEAUTIFULLY TOLD"
M.J. HYLAND, AUTHOR OF HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN
"A STARTLINGLY ORIGINAL ADDITION TO THE LITERATURE OF NORTHERN ENGLAND"
IAN MCGUIRE, AUTHOR OF THE NORTH WATER
"A POWERFUL EVOCATION OF A LANDSCAPE AND A WAY OF LIFE"
JOSEPH KANON, AUTHOR OF LEAVING BERLIN
"UTTERLY ABSORBING AND ORIGINAL, SCOTT PRESTON WRITES
WITH A POET'S HEART AND A CINEMATIC EYE"
REBECCA SMITH, AUTHOR OF RURAL
In early 2001, foot and mouth breaks out on the hill farms of Cumbria, emptying the valleys of sheep and filling the skies with smoke. Two neighboring shepherds lose everything and set their sights on a wealthy farm in the south with its flock of prizewinning animals. So begins the dark tale of Steve Elliman and William Herne.
As their sheep rustling leads to more and more difficult decisions, the struggles of the land are never far away. Steve’s only distraction is his dangerous fascination with William’s enigmatic wife, Helen. When their mountain 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 the ancient ways of the Lakeland fells.
A reimagining of the American Western for the fells of northern England, Scott Preston's thrilling debut tells of men and women battered by circumstance, struggling to make lives for themselves in an unyielding land. Lyrical, cinematic, visceral and steeped in local folklore, The Borrowed Hills is an epic tale of a forgotten Britain.
Publishers
John Murray (UK)
Scribner (US)
Albin Michel (France)
Aschehoug (Norway)
Turbine (Denmark)
Host (Czechia)
Wydawnictwo Czarne (Poland)
Fischer Verlag (Germany)
SCOTT PRESTON
Scott Preston is from Windermere in the Lake District. He is a graduate of the University of Manchester’s writing program and received a PhD in creative writing from King’s College London.
The Borrowed Hills is his first novel. It was published April 2024 in the UK, and will be followed by a June 2024 North American release with translations soon after.
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Literary Agent (RCW) | Peter Straus
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Film & TV (Casarotto Ramsay) | Lucinda Prain
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Publicity (John Murray) | Anna-Marie Fitzgerald
anna-marie.fitzgerald@johnmurraypress.co.uk
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Publicity (Scribner) | Abigail Novak
abigail.novak@simonandschuster.com
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