The Salt Stones is available for pre-order!
The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life is available for pre-order now and will be in stores by June 3, 2025.
You can pre-order signed copies from Northshire Books, and if you send in what you’d like as an inscription by May 2, I promise I will drive down there in between lamb births and personalize it for you. Also, an invitation to read my recent Substack essay: My Beloved Slow Book, all about the slow journey of its creation.
From the book jacket…
“Helen Whybrow is a to-the-bone writer, and this is a to-the-bone book--beautiful, real, full of life.” --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
In the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, Helen Whybrow and her partner embark on a precarious journey of restoring an old, 200-acre farm. Whybrow knows that “belonging more than anything requires participation” and begins to intertwine her life with the land. But soon after she releases a flock of Icelandic sheep onto the worn-out fields, Whybrow realizes that the art of shepherding extends far beyond the flock and fences of Knoll Farm.
In prose both vivid and lean, Whybrow shares an intimate story of what it means to care for a flock and inhabit a piece of land, while raising a family and building a community. Capturing the extraordinary interdependence of animals, the earth and ourselves, she reflects on all the ways sheep connect her to place, to history and to the ancient practice of shepherding. The challenging and rewarding work of a shepherd’s life unfolds for Whybrow in the seasons and cycles of farming and family–birthing lambs, fending off coyotes, rescuing lost sheep in a storm, and raising children while witnessing her mother’s decline.
Evocative, affectionate, and illuminating, Helen Whybrow lovingly reminds readers of our shared instinct and longing to care for animals, each other, and the world that surrounds and sustains us. Within The Salt Stones an extraordinary song emerges, inspiring everyone to seek a greater intimacy and a sense of belonging within all of nature's complexity.
Advance praise from booksellers…
“One of the great gifts of the writers we love is so delicately, artfully, placing the lifeways of their characters in our mind that we can fully imagine and experience them as ourselves. Whether they are human, animal or even relational to things and landscapes, what a feat of magic. Read this one, for a shepherd's life, the lives they live with, and the landscapes they fully inhabit. Beautiful, telling, and so fully human. We need that.” –John Evans, Camino Books
“The Salt Stones joins the pantheon of great pastoral literature. Whybrow’s memoir is full of grace, and lessons, and thoughtful meditations on what it is to live in this world, on this land, with these animals, with these people.” –Hannah Harlow, Bookshop at Beverly Farms
“25 years ago Whybrow traded a career writing and editing books to care for a flock of Icelandic sheep on a 200-acre farm in Vermont. Fortunately for us, she kept notes and this beautifully written memoir/meditation on the art of shepherding, caring for the land and for each other is the reward. With such powerful, moving and lyrical writing, her grocery lists would be worth reading.” –Sarah Goddin, McIntyre’s Books
“A beautifully written memoir of Helen's life as a shepherd in Vermont. She intricately weaves her story into the fibers of the natural world. This book will be perfect for fans of Braiding Sweetgrass and The Comfort of Crows.” –Cathy Fiebach, Main Point Books
“A deeply reflective book on living and working closely with nature and the tremendous challenges inherent in caring for a flock. The Salt Stones made me consider what it's like to constantly be responsible for the lives (and deaths) of animals. Whybrow and her family spend a lot of time literally herding sheep. But 'shepherd'-- the noun and the verb--means so much more and Whybrow embodies it fully as she lays her heart on the page in this instant classic of nature literature.” –Stan Hynds, The Northshire Bookstore
“A stunningly beautiful memoir of connecting to and caring for place through shepherding; a way of being in the world that enriches rather than destroys it. Take the time to slow down and share the seasons of a farm, and of a life, with all the joy and heartbreak it brings. There are gentle lessons for us all. Love, love, love this book!” –Alana Haley, Schuler Books
“We live in a world where too many of us are afraid of our pets, terrified of mice and spiders. Where mowing the lawn or playing a round of golf is our primary contact with the natural world. Helen Whybrow’s beautifully written The Salt Stones will immerse you in another world, one lived by the bulk of humanity for most of history and lived still by many around the globe. This is a book about relationships and connections: to land, to animals, to nature and its cycles, to people, to traditional knowledge and the wisdom embedded in it. It is a book about attention and intention, and time, and it requires us, if we are to subvert the ongoing ecological and emotional crisis of our time. It belongs on your shelf next to Barry Lopez, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, and Robert Macfarlane; its lessons embedded in your heart and soul.” –Jonathan Welch, Talking Leaves Bookstore
“The Salt Stones is a beautiful written memoir not only about Helen Whybrow’s farming life in rural Vermont, but her story covers so much more. She describes the complexities of raising and grass-feeding Icelandic Sheep, the history of New England farming, and the ties that bind New England farmers. We read about her commitment to eco-restoration of the land after the centuries of unsettling America’s natural balance. This lovely and thoughtful book is a meditation on the interconnectedness of nature, on mothering children and the environment, and a wonderful gift to readers and booksellers.” –Joan Grenier, The Odyssey Bookshop
“In a time filled with so much urgency, this meditative, lyrical book is exactly what I needed. Helen Whybrow's prose is as grounding as it is inquisitive, and as fervent as it is gentle. We could all learn a thing or two from sheep.” –Amali Gordon-Buxbaum, Books Are Magic
“Helen Whybrow's The Salt Stones gives me the same feelings I get reading the great bucolic English writers about farming life--Herriot and now Hamer--but she's our own. It seems immensely hopeful despite the number of things crashing down around us that she, her husband, and children are putting one foot in front of another to raise sheep in partnership with a meadow in Vermont. Run, don't walk.” –Kelly Barth, The Raven Bookstore
“Helen Whybrow grew up on a farm and was drawn back to the farming life as an adult when she and her partner took over a 200-acre sheep farm in northern Vermont. While The Salt Stones is rooted in the cycle of a year on the farm, many passages overlap and diverge in resonance over full lifetimes. Yet always, there is the unspoken bond between the sheep and their human caretakers, and the connections within the small but vibrant local community, that invigorate the routines of the seasons. It is a joy to encounter such a sensitive and beautifully written account of farming life. Fans of James Rebanks and Robin Wall Kimmerer will not want to miss this.” –Peter Sherman, Wellesley Books
“Helen Whybrow has given us a wonderful gift. The Salt Stones is a nature memoir at its best. Take the time to slow down and appreciate the wonders of the moment.” –Julie Slavinsky, Warwick’s Books
“This beautiful book takes us, as the subtitle promises, through the “Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life.” Late winter/early spring is lambing time, and the book starts with these words, “With my fingertips in the dark, I can feel a nose and two feet.” I was immediately captivated, and I think you will be, as well. From this beginning, it’s clear that Whybrow’s grounding in the farm is visceral. As she takes us through the seasons of the shepherd’s life (the book actually covers about twenty years of her life), we join her in the birthing of lambs, in the muck of life on a sheep farm, in reciprocal relationships with neighbors, and in the joys and heartaches of her family life. One night, she and her husband are lying in wait, intent on shooting the coyote which has been preying on the flock. They see the green eyes of the animal, but don’t hit it. Out of this experience comes learning about other ways to exist with the predators. It isn’t easy but is in harmony with the way Whybrow wants to live on Knoll Farm. The writing of The Salt Stones is beautiful, and the reflections on life lived in harmony with the natural words are insightful. Don’t miss this book!” –Sally Wizik Wills, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery
“Oh breath of fresh air, how I needed you so! And along comes Helen Whybrow to make me yearn for greener pastures and spoil me with exquisite writing. If you have ever daydreamed about running away to the countryside, Whybrow gives us a level eyed look at a shepherd's life, love, motherhood, and living a fairly self-sufficient life in season. Did I mention the exquisite writing?” –Keebe Fitch, McIntyre's Books