The Sheep Stell

by Janet White

An account of Janet White's life as a shepherd, islander, smallholder and hill farmer. Throughout her life she has always tended sheep - first as a young girl in The Cheviots, then on an uninhabited island off New Zealand with a bonfire as her only means of communication with the mainland. After a brutal attack she was forced to leave her island and returned to England, where she married, became a smallholder in Sussex and finally bought a hill farm in Somerset. Underpinning this account is the author's attachment to the land and her total commitment to combine the principles of conservation with successful farming.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Memoir, Natural History

218 pages, Hardcover

First published December 27, 1992

Reviews

[Producervan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sheep Stell, Memoirs of a Shepherd by Janet White. Little, Brown Book Group UK. Constable. Outdoors & Nature. Pub Date 15 Mar 2018.

The romance of language meeting nature. Delightful, amazing, this adventurous memoir is an enjoyable must-read for people who love sheep and travel! It’s worth packing your bags if you can find an experience like that today. This book covers places in Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, and places in England like Somerset County. The Sheep Stell was first published more than 25 years ago and this is an updated edition. This is the best book I’ve read so far this year. Simply superb. 

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

In an 1880 letter, Édouard Manet wrote, “The countryside only has charms for those who are not obliged to stay there.” Yet Janet White’s unfailingly enjoyable memoir tells of finding contentment in the countryside as a shepherd. Her book has been reissued at an ideal time to take advantage of the popularity of books such as James Rebanks’s The Shepherd’s Life and Rosamund Young’s The Secret Life of Cows (itself recently republished more than a decade after its first appearance).

The Sheep Stell taps into a widespread feeling that we have become cut off from the natural world and that existing in communion with animals is a healthier lifestyle. It is both an evocative picture of a life adapted to seasonal rhythms and an arresting account of the casual sexism White experienced when entering a traditionally male vocation. (My full review is in the June 15th issue of the Times Literary Supplement.)

Also recommended to readers of Nan Shepherd, Ruth Pavey, and Rowena Farre.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the story of a remarkable woman's life. Janet White is someone who, in the era concerned, had little regard for norms I think. It opens with a chapter wonderfully evocative of an English countryside which has disappeared. It is the mid 1940s in the Cotswolds. Janet's ideal is to work on a farm with animals. In that she proves very successful over her whole life and journeys far in doing so. She also seeks isolation and wilderness for a preference - she succeeds in that for much of her life too.

After learning her craft in fairly remote parts of the UK, Janet decides it's time for a change and takes an emigrant passage to New Zealand. Bearing in mind she is on her own and this is still the 1950s I find her behaviour unusual to say the least. Throughout the Sheep Stell she comes over as someone who simply cannot see that something might not be possible. After doing the relatively mundane job she signed up to she finds an isolated island and persuades the owner that she can run the island and have her own livestock on there and manage on her own!

I found charm and simplicity to the writing and, for much of the book, a real feel of a time now long passed. She writes in a very open way about her life and feelings even if animals and the landscapes dominate the story. She is an acute observer of all that interests her with remarkably vivid memories of long ago events.

In a sense this is a good book for "romantics" - she is someone who seems to gather male attention around her like moths to a light. However more broadly this does have a rather romantic feel to it coming from a slightly different era in relatively recent time. Early on I was left with the feeling that this is a remarkable story told by a very good writer. It is not earth shattering or momentous but it holds great qualities. That feeling never really went away. I do probably have a slight preference for the first half of the Sheep Stell. It is wilder and more interesting to me. The second half was far more "domesticated" in a number of senses and, while good, was a little less appealing. 4.5/5 I think and happily recommended to anyone it appeals to.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review

http://viewson.org.uk/non-fiction/she...

[Anneliese Tirry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat gebeurt er in dit boek? Eerst dacht ik te schrijven “niets”, maar hoe fout kan ik zijn. Neen, “alles” gebeurt in dit boek, het hele leven van de auteur gebeurt in dit boek. En dat leven is opgehangen aan die hele grote passie van haar: reeds sedert haar jeugd in WW2 is het haar doel om schaapsboerin te worden in een afgelegen boerderij.
En dat is precies wat ze doet. Eerst alleen ergens in The Cheviott Hills en daarna als enige bewoner op een eiland in New Zealand.
Terug in de UK trouwt ze en start een gezin. Eerst runt ze een boerderij in Sussex en uiteindelijk in Somerset.
Ik kan niet anders dan bewondering hebben voor deze sterke vrouw die alle gevaar en uitdagingen recht in de ogen kijkt, wiens leven één langgerekte ode is aan de wildernis, aan de biodiversiteit, een vrouw die leeft in het heden en handelt voor de toekomst.
Ik heb deze autobiografie zeer graag gelezen.

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want this brilliant book to end. Janet White is a beautiful writer - and an inspiration, in general! I can't wait to read this all over again.

[Maya Panika · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Memoirs of a shepherd’ . The author, Janet White, was determined to be a shepherd, going against her parents - and society’s - expectations, doggedly determined to pursue her dream. This memoir takes us through her working life in Britain, and to a remote island off New Zealand, where a bad marriage drives her home again to England. But these details of a woman’s life are not what the book is about. It is the description (and what a descriptive genius the author is!) of all aspects of the land and the animals on it, that makes The Sheep Still such an engaging, all-absorbing, magical reading experience. The Beauty of the writing is so immersive - you feel you are there, on the land, under the skies, in the weather, with Janet. It is a remarkable book, packed with intricate details, unusual observations, word sketches and some of the best nature writing I have ever read. A truly remarkable book.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed this a journey of the author shepherding around the globe in the 1950's to the turn of the century from Scotland to her living solo on an island in new Zealand and setting up new farms over a period in sussex and west country and her love for the animals. the book was touching and in some parts was scary when she was on the solo on the island

[Winston Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book - an opinion not given lightly. I was put off slightly by a review which called it "strange and lovely". Often this means deep and wordy with whole paragraphs of description. But not this book.

My background was growing up on a farm in New Zealand although I'm a city boy these days. Janet White began her youth working as a shepherd in Scotland and then aged 22 set off for New Zealand. I was hooked.

Pretty much everything she talks about and explains is familiar to my childhood. Talking about binder-twine (hay baling string) used for boot laces takes me back decades. I still use binder-twine today. And using the skin of a dead lamb as a cloak on an orphan lamb to fool the mother ewe is what dad used to do.

Janet White has an easy open writing style which makes her life story come alive. Much recommended.

[Gaby Meares · Rating 5 out of 5]

In these days of isolation, this book is the perfect companion.
Janet White's life story left me breathless, and feeling like my life's journey has been very smooth indeed! Janet chooses a road that many of us would avoid at all costs: a road with very few creature comforts and a lot of very hard work. I found myself totally removed from my very cosy chair and immersed in her struggles, together with her many joys, as she lived the life she wanted, without compromise. I am in awe of her determination in the face of so much adversity, and her ability to see beauty and joy in the harshest of environments.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“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.

This review was first posted at Eustea Reads

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written memoir and one that will stay with me for a long time. The book follows Janet White's journey from her origins, growing up on a farm in the Cotswolds to her first independant steps as a shepherdess in the Cheviots, then onwards to a tiny, isolated island off the coast of New Zealand. This is all the more inspiring when you understand that this occurred in the 1950s, when a woman's place was considered to be in the home, baking bread and producing children. Instead Janet was alone, in a country as far from home as she could possibly be, battling sexism and randy farmers, all the while trying to tend her flock and revelling in the peace that her deliberate isolation brought. Her writing is stunning, and her enthusiasm and passion for her vocation is supremely evident. I'll be honest and say that I chose to read this book purely based on its gorgeous front cover but I am so glad I did. I adored every single minute of this read and it is one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

[Lydia Hephzibah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for passionate autobiographies of regular people and The Sheep Stell fixes that craving incredibly. The description is divine, some of the most evocative writing I've ever come across, with stunning imagery of Scottish landscapes and New Zealand islands, and the trials and tribulations of life as a farmer. This is a perfect Sunday read: a gentle true tale with a gorgeous cover, a riveting narrative and lyrical writing that lingers! I absolutely adored this book: I could keep reading White's words for a long time, simple and beautiful.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conflicting thoughts on this book. First off Janet has led an amazing life unconstrained by traditional roles and gender expectations, with a deep love of nature and farming. On the other hand it's a bit of a peon to middle class white privelege. Pretty sure my family sucked it up in Canterbury being bombed during the war not escaping to a Cotswold Valley, and no one even finished school let alone considered ag school. It's a bit Cider with Rosie poverty and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Janet and Laurie didn't know each.

[Elly Sands · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quiet unpretentious book but not without moments of tension. A strong independent woman who knows what she wants and she wants to be a shephard and to live alone on an island where nature and animals are her companions. This is a beautifully written account on how she succeeds bringing this to fruition. The story extends into her married life and children running a successful farm. One wonders how this woman did it all! Interesting how her story pulls you in and makes you feel part of everything going on. Her nature writing is exquisite. This could easily become a classic.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of a Shepherd is more difficult than most occupations because of several reasons: 1) the sheep are dumb, literally. They will stand still while crows peck out their eyes. They will run directly off a cliff. They refuse their own sometimes and have to be deceived to take it in. 2) the attachment to the animal and the difficult moment to take care of the sheep in its agony. 3) the constant watching over and moving to fresh food sources. 4) weather hazards and land hazards that confuse or trap the animal to its death. 5) But all of this is worth it because the sheep are loved and protected in such a tense way. I enjoyed not only learning about the life of a Shepherd but also about this author's personal struggles living alone as a woman on an island raising sheep alone. WOW! There are some crazy heart-wrenching disasters that take place in this story. There are also some beautiful moments, between the landscape, the views, the births of sheep, the saves, the people; fabulous read!

[Wendelle]

this is the memoir of a very strong, willful and independent woman who decided in her youth that shepherding was her vision of life, and so she pursued it, through the wilds and rural areas of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and New Zealand in verdant descriptions. The author admits she is a fan of Gothic romances like the work of the Brontes and it shows in her writing style, and in the focus of her content-- she is often the object of affections of shepherds in remote areas who threaten their own lives if she doesn't commit to them or something...

[Ann Boytim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janet White decided very early in life that she wanted to live somewhere quiet, wild and beautiful. Janet lived in wartime England but she hoped to travel and did just that,. Janet chose a life as a shepherd and despite her age and experience she managed to travel to many different areas of the world and become a farmer. Living on a remote island showed how strong Janet became and learned the hard way. Janet eventually married and and had a family but continued to farm. Amazing what ambitions come into play and determination and courage to step "out of the box".

[Laura Hašek · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg! nikdy bych si nemyslela, ze by me mohla knizka o pastevectvi a ovcich bavit. a hele najednou tahle! zamilovala jsem si janet pro jeji povahu, odvahu, zapaleni ale i rozvazne mysleni. prostredni cast, kde janet bydli sama na ostrove aroa, byla nejlepsi. byla dobrodruzna a strasne se me zaujalo jeji jednani a mysleni, kdyz byla pastyrkou a pritazlivou zenou, ktera se nebala. postoj k ni a muzum. obdivuju ji za jeji zapaleni pro zvirata a lasku k prirode. bylo to ohromne romanticke cteni, ktere mi poskytlo novy smer pohledu.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonder! I fell under the spell of Janet White’s writing and her truly incredible life. It is wildly romantic, capturing the isolation and beauty of remote English countryside and New Zealand. To fall in love with this book too, a strong love of animals and their habitat, a hankering for farm life and a romantic view of isolated wilderness will all help...not that much help is needed to embrace this beautiful memoir! This book will always hold a special place in my heart.

[Liz Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, written by a remarkable woman who was a farmer and shepherd. She started farming just after World War Two, and spent quite a time living alone on an island near New Zealand. She was totally fearless of the isolation and challenges, it's an amazing story ; some of the writing reflects the times in which age grew up.
After New Zealand, she came back to the UK and farmed in Sussex and Devon. - less dramatic but still hugely interesting.

[Louise Bleakley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my most favourite book of all time. Janet's way of writing is fabulous; lots of imagery and I learned so much about sheep farming. She is a really remarkable woman and a role model for me. She is brave, wonderful, and was way beyond her time in her youth.

This book is beautiful, raw, and inspiring. I couldn't put it down but never wanted it to end.

[Adéla Pavlišová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jsem do té knihy zcela zamilovaná. Závidím, vidím se místy v autorce a smutním nad tím, že žiju v příliš moderním světě. Krásně popsána příroda a skromný vztah člověka k ní. Velice neotřelé vyprávění, kde na popis lidí, vztahů a lásek (témata, kterých se autoři obvykle chytaji, aby knihu udelali čitelnější) nezbývá prostor. A přesto je to tak strašně zábavné!

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Po dlhej dobe krásna kniha, hoci ani jej sa násilie nevyhnulo. Obdivujem odvahu žiť sama v rôznych divokejších krajoch a vzťah k zvieratám. Dočítanie som zámerne oddaľovala, aby knižka zostala so mnou dlhšie.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful and a balm in these difficult times. The audiobook narrator is superb. It contains so much beauty that I know I will enjoy it over and over. I am incredibly grateful to have discovered it.

[Ronnie Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people are gifted with a tremendous life force. Janet White is one of them. Beginning at a young age, she knew what she wanted from life and she set out to experience it all. I love reading accounts of "a life well lived" and this is one of them.

[Bryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent read. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an adventurous and heartfelt memoir, devotedly centered around an amazing woman’s experience in the natural world. Janet White is a true storyteller, and her life is a wonderful story.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. What an amazing life, full of so many joys, so much dedication and no few hardships. Rarely do you get to see someone living a life so utterly suited to their dreams and abilities.

[Richard Gemmell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book absorbing as it is a very authentic account of the rewards and challenges of farming in relatively remote areas. The remoteness of the land was compensated by the beauty of the authors surroundings. One can only admire her work ethic and commitment.

[Emma Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible read. Janet White was such a remarkable and impressive woman. I was in awe while reading this and simultaneously swept away by the descriptions of the places she made home. I am surprised this isn’t more well known or been translated into picture already

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story that is beautifully written.