How do you portray so much with so few words? I am learning to understand the power of a well written short novel. Sarah Moss does not waste a single word and I am still feeling the latent power of her profoundly lyrical prose, days after finishing this perfect book.

A pandemic novel told with such intimacy that our four protagonists float from the page and their lives weigh heavy. The inner dialogue is such that they feel like family, people that you have known a lifetime. You feel the loneliness, the futility, the panic, the anxiety. Yet at the same time Moss manages to convey the mood of the masses; the fear, the distrust, the confusion. But there is humour here too, there is light with the shade.

I am struggling a little; this may have been too soon for me to read it, certain parts felt very close to home, but this is a book that i am glad has crossed my path. Yes, this tells the story that is still all too fresh in our minds, but it is more than that, it is a tale of humanity; it is about making mistakes, it is about forgiveness and understanding, it is about acceptance and being respectful of others.

For me, Kate, the woman who takes that fateful walk and her neighbour Alice, are the core of this piece but it is Rob, one of the mountain rescue team who purveys its message:
' This is why he does it, because no one has to apologise to him, because when you've utterly fucked up and you know it is when you need someone who doesn't ask you to be sorry.'

Read this book, it is perfect. Thanks to #netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this advance copy is exchange for a review.

Sarah Moss's latest novel is set in the Peak District over a 24 hour period during November 2020, when the whole world was in lockdown. Its told from the POV of four main characters; Kate her son Matt, Alice the elderly neighbour and Rob, a mountain rescue volunteer. Kate, a single mother and a waitress on furlough, is quarantining at home. She cannot tolerate the confinement of her small home and escapes at dusk for a walk in the nearby hills. When she fails to return home, the local mountain rescue unit are called out. Her son waits anxiously at home.

While the premise of the story is very simple, as always with Moss there is a lot more going on under the surface. She provides a social commentary on modern day Britain, consumerism, climate change and loneliness in a pandemic world. The writing style is reflective, consisting of a series of internal voices. Alice muses on the claustrophobia of lockdown, the lack of social contact and "the ebbing uncertainty of hope" Kate worries about bad choices she's made in life. A raven, a symbol of loss, keeps her company in the dark hills, connecting the spirit world with the material world, as Kate tethers between life and death.

As with all good novellas, the story line is intense and taut from the start. Kates sense of claustrophobia is keenly felt. As always Moss is at her best when describing the natural world and the bleak Derbyshire hills, which act as a salve to the repression of isolation. This is a book that I will read again and s a book that I will purchase for myself. I feel I've only scratched the surface oft this multi layered book. Pensive, beguiling and throroughly enjoyable.

Many thanks to @netgally and @panmcmillan for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Really interesting to read a book set during the Covid pandemic, when we are still living with the virus to such a degee. The book was set during lockdown, which is still very recent to us all. I loved the writing style, stream of conciousness type, compelling and tightly woven. Following the lives of our excellently drawn main characters we hear of their fears during the lockdown period, and also their hopes for the future. I really enjoyed this and woould like to read it again in 5 and 10 years time to see what a moment it captured. Definitely recommend.

Sarah Moss’ recent work has focused on contemporary Britain post-Brexit. She has explored attitudes to women, immigrants, Brexit itself, and thoughts on ageing, connection, health, and other concerns facing British people in the twenty-first century. This latest novella takes place almost in the present moment, specifically November 2020, and explores reactions to the Covid 19 pandemic and restrictions imposed for the sake of public health. It’s a story that presents a wide array of viewpoints without making a moral judgement about characters’ behaviour.

Kate has been told to self isolate after coming into contact with a co-worker who tested positive for Covid. She and her son Matt must stay home for 14 days, but Kate feels herself going stir crazy. She decides to go for a walk up the fell near her home thinking no one will notice she’s gone and she won’t meet anyone. But Kate falls, necessitating a search-and-rescue operation that could cause huge problems for Kate, who has broken quarantine illegally, and her son, who is waiting anxiously at home, and for the rescue team, pulled from their lives to help a woman who could be Covid positive.

What the story does exceptionally well is present pictures of isolation. Kate, her son Matt, their neighbour Alice, and a mountain rescue team member named Rob each get a voice in the story. We are privy to their thoughts about the pandemic, their families, their health, their connections to others, and their feelings and behaviours in this immediate crisis around Kate’s accident. The book is quite short, as all of Moss’ recent works have been, but, like those other stories, it also packs a lot in. In a story about the pandemic, Moss has cleverly and realistically drawn on ideas and feelings of isolation to create a sense of tension and immediacy that will connect with readers who engage with this book as the pandemic continues. For those reading this when the pandemic is finally over, this story will present an accurate depiction of pandemic life, the fear, the resistance, and the need for connection and kindness and togetherness that characterises this time so well.

What is also extraordinary about the story is the lack of judgement of Kate’s behaviour. She does not mean to put anyone else in danger when she leaves her home, but her actions do have dire consequences. It’s interesting to read the thoughts of the other viewpoint characters, all of whom are going through their own issues relating to the pandemic; none of whom blame Kate for needing to escape. What’s lovely about the story is the kindness and concern at its heart. They all care what happens to Kate, and their generosity with their time and their well wishes for Kate in the midst of such a desperate situation for everyone is heartening to read.

It’s a hopeful book, then, but it’s also quite sad in places. There are moments of uncertainty and sadness that I will never forget. In the midst of the pandemic, people have other issues going on in their lives that Moss reminds us of so well and so movingly here.

Initially, I wasn’t sure what I thought of this book. I didn’t like it as much as Ghost Wall, the first Moss novella I’d read. The story made me uncomfortable because of its immediacy and the fact that we’re still living through the pandemic. Thinking about it more as I write this, though, the story is growing on me. It will be an interesting book to read again when the pandemic has been over for a while. It’s difficult to read a pandemic story in the midst of a pandemic, especially one as truthful as this. In some ways, though, the difficulty and discomfort of the reading experience is a testament to Moss’ skill as a writer. She writes tension and atmosphere like no one else, and her characters here are particularly memorable for me.

At the beginning of the first lockdown, I said I wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable glut of literary fiction reflecting on isolation during the pandemic. Of course, this was before I knew that one of the first novels to be published with a lockdown setting would be The Fell by Sarah Moss. Rather than the bewildering novelty of spring 2020, it is set during the second lockdown in the UK in the following November, at the point where social distancing fatigue had well and truly set in along with anxiety about the winter ahead. Kate, a single mother in her forties, is a waitress on furlough in the Peak District. After ten days of self-isolating with her son Matt, she finally snaps and sets out for a walk which has unintended consequences. ‘The Fell’ is very much in the same vein as Moss’s two previous short novels Ghost Wall and Summerwater which dealt with the fallout of the Brexit referendum with an acute sense of dread. Her state-of-the-nation analysis is both dense and astutely portrayed in less than 200 pages, depicting the sort of conversations we’ve all had about practical matters like hygiene and more philosophical ones about personal responsibility. Some readers may find it’s still too soon to immerse themselves in realist depictions of life during a pandemic, but Moss made a good point when she said in an interview recently: “I’m still slightly puzzled (by the idea that) a pandemic should be put away to a mature like a Christmas pudding, and don’t know quite who decides when it’s ready. We need stories, we need narratives… that’s how we’ll begin to navigate this and to be able to think about it other than as an emergency”. Many thanks to Picador for sending me a review copy via NetGalley.

I recently read Summer Water by Sarah and devoured it in one sitting as it was so gripping, so when I saw there was a Sarah Moss on NetGalley I had to request. This is another one I devoured in a day or two. Highly recommend

Timely Reminder
A serious read and a reminder about the effects of the pandemic on lives.
Kate and her son Matt are in isolation for 14 days, Kate is conscientious, but the isolation gives her too much time to think, so she goes for a walk on the Fells, forgetting her phone but taking her hiking backpack. Her son Matt realises what has happened when she does not return, he contacts the police after visiting his shielding neighbor.
Search and Rescue are called, but not before we suffer with Kate as she tries to crawl along suffering from very serious injuries, she is tormented by delusions, worries about her son and the consequences of breaking her isolation.
Rob is in the Search and Rescue team, he has to leave his daughter alone, much to her disgust as he only sees her at weekends, he does some soul searching while searching for Kate.
Kate and Matt's neighbor Alice is recovering from cancer has relied on the two for shopping, she tries to keep up contact with her daughter and Grandchildren, but finds it difficult, left alone she questions her parenting skills.
This is a story which needs to be told, to remind us of restrictions and the hardships we suffered.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒔

Kate, a struggling waitress and single mom breaks her quarantine unable to stand being stuck at home any longer. She thinks she can just climb the peaks and be back soon and no one needs to know 😉. Though she intends it to be uneventful, she falls and the threat of getting caught, the problems with society for breaking quarantine becomes a reality.

A short, suspenseful story, gives insight to the minds of normal people in the community, how the lockdown played with our mind!

We get the story narrated by Kate (fallen in mountain), a worried teenager struggling to identify priorities, life of a mountain rescuer and worrying neighbour giving insights to the minds of ordinary people in extraordinary situation. The book can invoke so much emotions to the readers.The author has the ability to make recognise the emotions and circumstances which the characters experience! I have so much more to say about the insightful writing but I would recommend that You read this! A very short, masterpiece ❤️

This book is phenomenal and I now want to read her other books ❤️

Thank you @netgalley and @panmacmillan publishers for my copy ❤️❤️

This short, interesting novel effectively captures the mood and state of mind many people have experienced through the COVID lockdown. One of the issues constantly appearing in the news was restrictions being difficult to enforce, which is reflected in the novel as we see Authorities threatening fines and asking the population to report breaches of the lockdown rules. The problems related to lockdown afford the author an opportunity to explore questions of responsibility and personal freedom.

Kate, the protagonist, lives with her teen son. She has lost her job due to the pandemic, is worried about paying the bills and feels she cannot take it anymore. She reasons that a short stroll in the mountains would do nobody any harm. However, not everything goes according to plan and a massive rescue operation has to be organised. I was hit by the fact the Moss nails exactly what many people phantasized about or even did, not thinking that there could be consequences (I remember, for example, people breaking the rules to drive to their holiday homes, assuming that there would be no harm and not thinking that they would have social contact when going shopping, for fuel etc). Indeed, she seems to ask: in a world that seems to grant infinite freedom of choice to the individual, how do we react to boundaries and social responsibility or limitations that ensue? A crucial issue regarding movement restrictions, but also mask-wearing, social distancing and other different situations of collective crisis.

Moss tells the story through the points of view of four different individuals. She effectively enters into her characters’ heads, putting us in touch with the protagonists’ mental states and stream of thoughts and letting us judge their behaviour for ourselves, which feels disquieting. By doing so, she crafts an original complex picture of modern-day malaise right from the inside – a picture that extends beyond COVID issues: from climate change, societal crisis, aging and mortality to the unreality of life mediated by social media. She is indeed a gifted storyteller who excels at creating imperceptibly tense situations but, while the sense of unease and anxiety builds up to some degree, there is less of the suspense and brooding menace that made her previous novel Summerwater stand out for me – even if the rescue operation would have granted ample opportunity for that. Nevertheless, a worthy book to read in one sitting.

My thanks to the publisher for a proof of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sarah Miss and was delighted to be given the opportunity to read this ahead of release. Unfortunately the book was archived before I could do so. Looking forward to having the opportunity to read it after general release.

I love Sarah Waters books - they are so descriptive and atmospheric and really draw you in. This is set during the pandemic and describes the claustrophobic time that 3 characters experience and echoes a lot of what people went through, it delves deeply into the characters and their thoughts about this strange and odd time that we experienced. Its a thought provoking read. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

At first I thought this novel might be a little much - or too close to home - as it is about how characters deal with the isolation of recent lockdown. It's the first book I've read that addresses the situation in so much detail but it's the way its done that is so enticing.

Wonderfully written, it has nail-biting moments and hones in on human nature when put in uncomfortable situations.

A book of our time - one that will hopefully be read in the future as a mark of a distant era.

Another exceptional book by Sarah Moss. She dives into the internal lives of the people in her novel, creating flawless characters. Her writing is so well crafted and thoughtful and this novel is no exception, exploring the realities of the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns on this small community.

Amidst the slew of lockdown fiction swamping our bookshops, I knew there would have to be some hidden gems. And, yay, I’ve found one. What a precious little diamond this is!

At just 131 pages, The Fell is an unusually slim volume. But don’t be fooled by its size; it packs a punch like a heavyweight. I honestly can’t recall reading prose that’s so mesmerizingly, evocatively intimate.

Moss takes you right inside the minds of her three main protagonists, plunging you deep into their most secret thoughts, fears and desires. These become so tangible, they’re like a physical weight sitting on your chest. How often did I have to stop and say, breathe, just breathe!

There’s Kate, confined to home under 14 days’ quarantine and going quietly stir crazy. The fell — right on her doorstep — is calling to her. It’s dusk and no one is around. Surely she can sneak out for a short hike and a lungful of fresh air and be home again in no time. What Kate doesn’t foresee, though, is getting injured and lost, in the dark and rain, with only her fevered thoughts for company.

There’s Matt, Kate’s teenage son — also quarantined — who suddenly finds himself alone in their home. Where is his mum? What is she doing breaking quarantine? And — as the hours pass — what will be the repercussions for her if he reports her missing?

And there’s elderly next door neighbor Alice. Recently widowed, under treatment for cancer and shielding, Alice has all the time in the world to contemplate this strange new reality and her own mortality.

There are two standouts that make The Fell such a wonderful, memorable read: the thickly tense atmosphere, and the voices. Those of Kate and Alice are especially resonant: rich, mellifluous, unpunctuated streams of consciousness that throb with introspection and emotion.

For such a short book, The Fell overflows with wisdom, warmth and a delightfully self-deprecating wit. It’s heavy and intense, but it sparkles with kindness, love and hope. It examines mistakes and regrets, but above all reminds us what it means to be human.

If you read only one piece of pandemic fiction this year, let it be this.

A short novel following four different characters through a period during lockdown 2020. The main focus is on Kate, restless in quarantine who goes for a walk in the local hills and needs rescue.

The better aspect of the book is in portrayal of the characters; their thoughts and response in lockdown, relations with those close to them and the effects on isolation from the broader outside world. This is not always comfortable and at times characters are annoying, but it comes across as the responses of four real, flawed people to their situations. The central story of Kate is well-done, the thoughts and processes of those involved from different perspectives again feel 'real' rather than cliched.

Told from the POV of each person, one flaw is the writing style often makes these feel quite similar to each other; a 'stream of thought' approach which doesn't have a variety in writing style you might expect from four different POV thought processes. The other main flaw for me is the relative suddenness at the end; it is a 'snapshot' - a timeframe which ends at the end of the main story with no attempt at moving toward closure of other aspects for the different characters. It works well enough in this timeframe but needs more to feel complete.

I really didn't want to read about lockdown, but this book had me at the pitch... A beautifully sketched, short, stark novel that perfectly captures time and place.

It's November 2020, and England is in lockdown (again). Nobody should be out and about unless on absolutely vital business or their permitted daily walk. For Kate and her son Mark things are worse as they are stuck in fourteen day quarantine after coming into contact with Covid. It could be a quiet peaceful time. An opportunity to catch up on all those things you've intended to do - start a sourdough, knit a sweater, write a novel about the pandemic - but Kate has had enough of being cooped up indoors. Even the garden is beginning to feel too constricted. And no one will notice if she slips away up onto the moor for a while, she thinks. But Kate's quick walk goes dreadfully wrong when she slips and injures herself.
At home, Mark grows increasingly worried by his mother's absence, and calling in mountain rescue seems, if possible, to make matters worse by acknowledging the severity of the situation. And meanwhile next door, Alice is trying to accustom herself to living alone since her husband died, feeling cut off from her family (zoom is no way to have dinner together!) but enjoying the luxury of a bed to herself.

Rather oddly I spent a lot of the first lockdown watching 'pandemic' films in which scientists race against time to save humanity, or reading the sort of book in which a small band of survivors struggle bravely on in a post-apocalyptic world, but The Fell is a different sort of 'pandemic' story - one that's more realistic, which tells of something much closer to home, of the feelings of fear, frustration and loneliness that many of us felt.

Against this familiar backdrop of second (or was it third?) lockdown, the author weaves a story of a woman too restless to stay confined for a moment longer, her son taking life and his mother's presence for granted until the unthinkable happens, their elderly neighbour, lonely and cut off from family, and a man who gives his time freely to help those in trouble. The dullness of lockdown soon changes to tense drama when Kate slips and cannot make her own way home. Will she be found? Will she be 'found out' for breaking quarantine? Are fines applicable if you're lost on a hillside?


Maybe not everyone is ready for a reminder of the dark days of last autumn when it felt like lockdown would become an ever-present part of our lives but I felt that I could relate to so many of the feelings experienced by the characters, and it was good to hear them voiced by others.

I was so against the anti mask/social distancing stance of this book that it spoiled any chance I might of had of enjoying it.
I’m going to try not to request any books about Covid-19 because I think it’s just too raw still.

This is a purely bookstagram made me do it moment. I came across the ARC of The Fell in NetGalley and I knew I had to get it. The fear of missing out real you guys and I am seeing so much of Moss in my TL from some of the awesome bookstagrammers. Anyhow, I am so glad that I got this book as it deals with the lockdown and the claustrophobia of quarantine.


The Fell is told by four people. Alice, Kate, Matt and Rob, each of them coping with the pandemic in their way. Kate, a single mom and a furloughed waitress, is under quarantine for the possible exposure. This places her son, Matt also in quarantine as a close contact. Alice is a well-off elderly woman, who is also a cancer survivor, is at home desperate for human contact instead finds comfort in her home-baked cookies and electric blanket. Matt, an angsty teenager without much angst and Rob, a mountain rescuer. These 4 are brought together when Kate decides to break her quarantine and go for a casual evening stroll in the hills that is called The Fell.


Moss has executed the stream-of-consciousness in such a way that I ended up excited more than I ought to. The minds of these four are bared to us and every thought of peril, every casual indulgence felt more urgent. I am spooked by how real it felt. It's like living in a lockdown all over again. I especially loved Alice, with her ruminations about people and her desperation for human contact. And it was sad thinking about all the elderly people who were alone but couldn't go out - because they might catch the disease - but also it is expected of them to stay indoors. I also didn't realise how dehumanizing it would've been for them to depend on someone to do even the grocery shopping or to buy other necessities.


We police and judge people for their choices but we don't know what they are going through, do we? I am yet again reminded that a simple act of kindness is most important in these times. We know so many of our acquaintances who died than our previous generation. We have attended and heard about too many funerals to count. And yet, we live on judging others for the way they chose to live their life when we swept our fuck ups under the carpet.


It's a very slim novel of 160 pages but does the job. The pandemonium and the uncertainty of the pandemic are what did for me. There is this dread that goes round and round. The dread so many of us are familiar with but then again, so many of us threw the caution to the wind just for an ounce of normality. I don't agree but I understand. With that being said, I am not a fan of the somewhat ableist tone of this book. I agree that we are all doing the best we can but a book like this from a well-acclaimed author is kind of off-putting. I especially don't encourage breaking the quarantine however much I understand the characters. And all this kind of resulted in a book I enjoyed over parts, even though I went absolute bonkers over the writing.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for granting me the ARC. Much grateful.

This follows Kate, who is supposed to be self-isolating following a close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. During her isolation Kate finds she cannot take it and leaves her house for a walk.

Like Sarah’s previous novel, Summerwater, this utilises multiple POV’s in order to examine the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications. The characters were all fantastically written and felt real.

Sarah’s writing is always exquisite and this is no exception. It’s a short book but it certainly gives a lot to think about.

The Fell is out now!

AD - This copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review