Congratulations to Sarah Watkinson for her debut novel Native Soil published by Moore and Weinberg which is a clever interweaving of real science and real life. She explores the tension between one character who wants to make a go of conservation farming and another who is committed to scientific research and a TV series. Woven into this plot is the theme of living through grief. In addition, there are the Wharfedale moors, mud, muck, horses, lambs birthing and icy cold weather as well as cosy interiors, elegant clothes, glamorous and mysterious mothers, a Christmas party, lots of food and later a piano and a trip to Italy! And there’s Oxhide Farm, a place as interesting as a human character.
A rich young widow, Olivia, buys a traditional farm in the Yorkshire Dales whose soils have never been subjected to modern farming methods. She is determined to never re-marry and to safeguard her late husband’s memory as well as her unique and unspoiled land. The other protagonist is a slightly older widower, Andrew, who is a well-known TV scientist and whose work on Invisible Wildlife is literally ground-breaking but to pursue his mission he needs to travel a great deal. She meets him in the first chapter while giving a lecture at the Natural History Museum just before she moves to her remote and isolated farmhouse. This developing relationship is the central spine of the story with many interesting highways and byways mixed in.
Looking at the first page again I realise now how much information we glean immediately but subconsciously. You can read the first chapter on the Moore & Weinberg link above. This vignette of Olivia about to step into the Natural History Museum is memorable: her passing thought, “What a comforting assertion by those old naturalists – that Nature deserved a cathedral in the Empire’s capital” is significant. The title of this chapter is The Man with a Mission which takes us into the novel’s heart. I liked the well-chosen chapter headings throughout which subtly become part of the narrative. Both are great story-telling techniques.
Sarah deftly splices the scientific information she herself knows so well (she is an emeritus research fellow in fungal biology in Oxford) with the needs of the plot and the characters who are so convincing we rapidly become involved. Nuances are everywhere. There are perceptively written scenes when Olivia experiences the strangeness of moving into a rural community.
The author’s control of limited third person point of view is spot-on so the reader gets carried away by Olivia’s enthusiasms and passion, in fact so much so I found myself feeling quite annoyed with her for being so obtuse. Olivia never quite sees how it is for others until later. She has various epiphanies about her father, his second wife and their daughter as well as her own mother. We readers also don’t really know what’s going on under the surface for her.
I was swept away by the descriptions of Oxhide Farm, the Dales and the farming life, especially the lambing! Equally fascinating is the insight into the world of scientific academia with its eye on funding and market forces. An early chapter entitled The Trojans illustrates “the cold fizz of barely restrained anger between the biotech suits and (Andrew’s) band of colleagues”. The Powers that Be control this funding and lavish a great deal on biotechnology but in an interesting twist it turns out that Olivia’s mandarin and surprising godmother, Jane, is one of these powers. There are forces at work below the surface.
Only Sarah could have brought this story into being. She understands soil biology so well she can bring it to life through the dialogue and make it interesting and accessible, while creating credible characters who think and talk about it. The idea of a science laboratory on a working farm is inspired. Only once or twice does it stray into being a bit didactic but then that’s what experts talk about! A real tour-de-force with a supporting cast of interesting, well-drawn characters, it ends with a message of hope, a belief that people are capable of resolving things harmoniously when faced with what seem like insurmountably difficult choices.
This book is a really absorbing read if, like me, you love to learn something while reading fiction. You can buy it here and the Kindle edition is available here.
Rebecca Gethin 