Marchelle Farrell

Winner of Nan Shepherd Prize!

What is home?

A psychiatrist and specialist in talking therapies, Marchelle attempts to unpack this complex and emotional question while she tends to her garden in Somerset. Through her care for the unusual - and often unlikely - flora and fauna that is contained within it, she discovers that her two apparently conflicting identities are far more intertwined than she had previously realised.

Marchelle has long been a regular and friend of the bookshop - so we were delighted when she revealed herself to be an author whose debut has just won the Nan Shepherd Prize. It's such a pleasure to be able to host Marchelle for the launch party for this fantastic book, Uprooting, and we hope you will join us.

The question - what is home? - has troubled Marchelle for her entire life. Years ago, like so many of the Black diaspora, she left behind the pristine beaches and emerald hills of Trinidad. Now she moves again for the verdant, peaceful surroundings of the English countryside.

These relocations at first appear as opportunity. But when placed within the context of a worldwide pandemic, and ongoing racial protests, the trauma and upheaval of colonialism that have inexorably led her to this house and garden begin to be unearthed. Is this really home? And can she ever feel truly grounded here?

Full of hope and healing, Uprooting is a book that in troubled times and an unsettled world aims to find safety, stability and a sense of belonging in an English country garden.