Fiction

Sarah Hall: ‘The Helm Wind was like a childhood friend’

The author’s new novel is inspired by the dramatic Cumbrian skies of her formative years – and was 20 years in the making

A Balloon Ride: a new short story by Sarah Hall

Helm is a wild, mischievous wind that has blown across the Cumbrian fells since the dawn of time, without human company. But now a gravity-defying invention is intruding on its territory for the first time – and its excitable passengers believe they are unobserved. Helm, however, sees everything…

Nell Stevens is forging a bold identity of her own

An endlessly intriguing second novel whose protagonist is both the best and very worst person to unravel its mystery