Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2024

‘Eye-opening and persuasive’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Brilliant … I loved it’ KIT DE WAAL

‘Thoughtful, moving, honest’ CAL FLYN

*Winner of The Lakeland Book of the Year 2024*

Work in the countryside ties you, soul and salary, to the land. But often those who labour in nature have the least control over what happens there.

Why have our rural industries been replaced by tourism? Why can't people stay living in the places they grew up? In this beautifully observed book, Rebecca Smith traces the stories of foresters and millworkers, miners, builders, farmers and pub owners, to paint a picture of the working class lives that often go overlooked. This is a book for anyone who loves and longs for the countryside.