The Yorkshire Shepherdess

by Amanda Owen

Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess living alongside her husband Clive and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2000-acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Autobiography, Nature, Animals, Audiobook

368 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Amanda Owen is the author of "The Power of Receiving: A Revolutionary Approach to Giving Yourself the Life You Want and Deserve" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2011) and "Born to Receive: 7 Steps Women Can Take Today to Reclaim Their Half of the Universe" (Tarcher/Penguin, 2014)

With a background in social work and a twenty-five year practice as a counselor, Amanda has been presenting lectures and workshops since the mid-eighties.

N.Y. Times best-selling author Christiane Northrup, MD calls Amanda’s power-of-receiving philosophy “brilliant, elegant, profound, and enormously practical,” Maria Shriver calls her work “insightful,” and Elaine Shamos, the Director of The Women's Health Resource Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center says “Amanda's presentation skills are outstanding and, most importantly, her message is life-changing.”

Connect with Amanda at www.AmandaOwen.com

Reviews

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not something I would ever look twice at or think about reading if I was choosing something that I typically enjoy but I decided to read this as it's on my mums bookshelf. It is pretty much the polar opposite of what I usually read! That said, I can become interested in books of any type/genre. This is a relaxing, chilled-out read for those who want an easy and stressless read. I admit it doesn't sound like the most enthralling read but I know some people will love it for the humour and Amanda's amazing strength - an inspiring woman. It's hard not to admire her! I mainly enjoyed this as it is like a form of punctuation between all the thrillers I tend to read! A little like wiping the slate clean...

[Wendy crisp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written with great humour, found it interesting being from Cumbria but feel anyone could pick this book and enjoy it. Very relaxing happy read

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book enthralled me. I love the Yorkshire Dales and have lots of happy memories of holidays spent with my family enjoying living on a farmhouse just outside Askrigg. What an amazing person Amanda is. I have seen her on TV which prompted me to buy the book. Tall, bonny and strong she is a lady of many talents who lives in the Dales with her husband and children. Her book is both fascinating and inspiring. I have watched Amanda sharing her thoughts on her life in general and how she juggles her husband and family and her photography with being a shepherdess. I was so impressed at her dedication to her animals. It can't be the easiest of lives but Amanda makes it clear it is all she ever wants.

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having watched all the series about this fascinating family I was really excited to read the first book in this series. It is written very well and it’s very interesting. It describes Amanda’s childhood through to her having her seventh child. I loved the descriptions of farm life, sheep and all the hardships with weather, cold and extremes. It’s a very chatty book and is easy to read. I’m looking forward to reading the next one at some time. If you like James Herriot books give this one a try!

[Marie (UK) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really don't understand why anyone would want to read over 300 pages about someone else's life. A life that has no real interest to keep the attention. Amanda Owen is either pregnant, giving birth or driving through snow for almost the whole book. When she is not doing that she is lambing or clipping sheep. This book is as dull as dishwater and I have only trawled all the way through it as it is a book club read.

Ordinary people's lives are just that ordinary and on top of that this book rings false in some ways I hated all the broad Yorkshire talk partly because I am sure she would not have started off with that accent in middle class suburban Huddersfield.

[Abigail Hobbs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me deeply uneasy. I was raised far away from any humans outside my family. It took me almost 6 years as an adult to finally adapt to the culturally expected behavior of my own country. It was HARD. The author in this book is very flippant when someone addresses her children's deprivation of the outside world. I swear I heard adults in my own insular community use the exact same words Amanda Owen uses in this book. That the children are getting plenty of stimulation/experience in their own world. This logic only works if the child never leaves.

In one story the author narrates a rare occasion of having someone else's child spend the day at their farm. She ends the story saying that the mother never let the child come back. In the book, this is portrayed as amusing. I know from real life experience as that child. . . it is not.

I gave the book two stars because it was actually quite boring. There were a handful of hilarious anecdotes, but the majority of the book was a trudge.

[Gem ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly fascinating and heartwarming read.
Ideal not just for farming/countryside enthusiasts but for anyone who loves reading about completely normal but different lives,and those who are interested in childbirth & childhood it offers a unique and refreshing perspective.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an inspirational family!
Hardworking and family orientated, they live a challenging but enjoyable life.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the simple pleasures in life.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the tv series about Amanda and her family but this book tells her story before they found fame which i really liked being the nosy person that I am!

[Gail Amendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this autobiography about a city girl who became a farmer in the Yorkshire Dales. Perhaps it is because I am a farmer myself, and enjoy seeing how farmers live in other parts of the world. Amanda Owen grew up fascinated with the stories of James Herriot and his Yorkshire veterinary practice, and knew she wanted to work with animals. After working as a farm hand, farm sitter, relief milker, alpaca shearer, lambing assistant, general dogsbody, etc., she chanced to meet a sheep farmer from a remote farm, and as they say, the rest is history. She writes about the day to day life caring for 900 sheep, one husband, seven children, and assorted cows, horses, pigs, chickens, dogs and a goat. Some people have said they find this boring, but I find it fascinating, probably because I can relate to it. Her farm is in a rather remote, cold and snowy part of England, and I have to say that as a Canadian farmer I found their approach to maintaining livestock in winter to be a bit primitive. They seem too do a lot of things the hard way. I have huge respect for this woman who is an equal partner with her husband, and manages to run a farm with small children in tow. I have farmed with children, and while pregnant, and it isn't easy. I will definitely be reading her other books, and hope to watch her TV show sometime too. This is probably a four and a half star book, as the timeline is a bit confused sometimes, but I'm rounding it up to five as I couldn't put it down.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend lent me this book after learning I had hiked the Coast to Coast trail. I enjoyed the book because I had visited a number of the places the author writes about. Unfortunately, we missed visiting her farm and having cream tea. Amanda was raised in the city but always wanted to be a shepherdess. She succeeded and farms with her husband and 7 children. The book is quite an entertaining description of her life as a shepherdess.

[Bernadette Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an account of the life of Amanda Owen, a real life shepherdess who has featured on The Dales on ITV.

Reasonably well written this autobiography is a great insight into the highs and lows of working on a remote farm in the Yorkshire countryside.

It's worth a read and I will be reading the next one that she has written in due course.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amanda Owen gives a humorous, and detailed, account of an unusual life. Reading this has made me more determined to visit Yorkshire and do plenty of walks. Engrossing and evocative, I daydream about being on the farm in summer and snowed in in winter. Owen is clearly tough - she faces her childbirth experiences and incidents of life on the farm with a calmness and sense of humour. Can’t wait to visit and try her scones.

[Nona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read the other book by Amanda Owen (A Year in the Life of the Yorkshire Shepherdess) and this book was just as good as it- if not better. I love learning about how different people live in different places but actually this is one of the first biographies that I have read and I am looking forward to reading more because of the pleasure I got from reading this one. Amanda Owen is extremely inspiring and I am amazed by all of the hard tasks that she and her husband, Clive, have to carry out each day. And, on top of that, they look after 7 children! I would love to live so freely and it seems a very genuine life to live. I think this book is a must read.

[Carla Bloomfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read about the life and adventures of the most incredible family, some laugh out load moments and learning about what life is like with free range animals and children! If you have watched the series then read this you can hear Clive and Amanda's voices when you read some parts. Got the next book read to go on my reading pile, cant wait for more heart warming family adventures.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really refreshing and interesting read. I love the Dales and this account of hill farming in a remote part of the Dales was fascinating, told by Amanda in an honest, no nonsense way that brings the Dales farm to life.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed! A very strong woman.

[Márcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Amanda and her family live a hard but fulfilled and wholesome life.

[Deevena Jemima · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a captivating account of farm life in Ravenseat. Amanda's life on the farm is a hilarious, challenging, and busy affair, with managing her children, serving cream teas, lambing, horses, and so many things happening together. She manages her pregnancies so coolly, in some cases giving birth even before reaching the hospital. I admire her courage! Living far from town makes it very difficult to handle medical emergencies and to take the kids to school. She finds joy in what she does. An inspiring account!

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recent tv programmes about this family wetted my appetite and I was not disappointed. Amanda Owen writes so well about her life and family on their isolated yorkshire dales farm. With all the work and all the children how does she manage to write books as well?

[Fairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book about her shepherdess life and all that it entails! Easy to read, enjoyable learning all about sheep too. Thoroughly enjoyable light read.

[Georgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable and well written book. Makes me miss my home of Yorkshire and my visits to the Yorkshire Dales.

[Carol_h1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled with this. Although I loved the tales of family life on the farm it didn't always flow and struggled to keep reading.

[Tori Coulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Amanda. She reminds me so much of my sister and I take so much mum advice from Amanda

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful place and a hard but rewarding life! Loved Amanda's story

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good.

[Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having watched several series of "Our Yorkshire Farm" on TV I thought I would try the first of Amanda Owen's autobiographies. I found it very enjoyable - well written, absorbing and humorous. This book outlines how Amanda went into farming and how and she and her husband Clive met, married and went on to have seven (now nine) children. It gives a realistic picture of what life is like at Ravenseat, the remote farm where they live in the Yorkshire Dales. The often traumatic birth of each child is portrayed and their individual personalities are described. The children are brought up in a world of freedom and love. The incredible hard work left me breathless and full of admiration for this woman and her family.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Good to find out more about Amanda’s childhood and how she became a shepherdess ending up at Ravenseat. Looking forward to reading the other 2 books in the series.

[Daisy Pooler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book for my dad for Christmas since he loves the TV series, and I couldn't resist giving it a read myself. This is a beautifully written memoir that transports you to the Yorkshire hills, and describes the ups and downs of farming life. It's also a surprisingly funny book - whether it's stories about the kids or Amanda reminiscing about her times growing up in Huddersfield. I enjoyed it so much! Highly recommended

[Nancy Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it!!