‘Sundown turned the far horizon red and with the smoke spilling up it looked as if we’d set all Cumbria afire’

With foot and mouth disease spreading across the hills of Cumbria, emptying the valleys of sheep and filling the skies with smoke, two neighbouring shepherds lose everything and put aside their rivalry to join forces. They set their sights on a wealthy farm in the south with its flock of prizewinning animals. So begins the dark tale of Steve Elliman and William Herne.  

Their sheep rustling leads to more and more difficult decisions, and Steve’s only distraction is his growing fascination with William’s enigmatic and independent wife, Helen. As their home comes under the sway of a lawless outsider, it is left to Steve to save himself and Helen in a savage conflict that threatens an ancient way of life.    

Lyrical, cinematic and steeped in local folklore, The Borrowed Hills is an uncompromising vision of farmers lost in brutal devotion to their flocks, the aching love affairs that men and women use to sustain themselves and the painful consequences of a breath-taking heist gone bad. The Borrowed Hills is a thrilling adventure that reimagines the American Western for the fells of northern England.