This book honestly took me by surprise. It was very well written and read quite easily considering the topics covered and the fact that it is a non-fiction book. I really enjoyed different, yet balanced discussions from different points of view. I also loved that the author provides their own opinion yet makes the reader think about it in depth to make up their own mind about the issues discussed. This book doesn’t polarise one view, it explores many and leaves the reader to ponder about each of them.

In essence, this book covers a cultural and perceptual divide between rural and urban in the UK. It looks at the farmer's perspectives but also covers the perspectives of those who live in urban areas and have nothing to do with farming or agriculture. In the beginning author gives their family background, as well as growing up in rural countryside in mid-Wales. So although it starts as a memoir, it quickly the books goes into issues that face the countryside, farmers and agriculture. Books also have interviews with a variety of different people and personal stories.

Overall: I wish this book existed when I was studying at university as it would have been a perfect read for at least a few of my modules. It is a very eye-opening and discussion-driven book about the reality of the UK’s rural and urban divide.

100% recommend this book.
Really interesting , and thought provoking.
Discussing the divide between rural and urban living, there are some really interesting discussions on climate change, food production and animal welfare, among others.
I throughly enjoyed the read and have recommended to many others.

Anna Jones has knowledge of both rural & city life. In this book she explains the divide between the two and is looking for solutions in order to break down the barriers & educate both in order to work together better.
She draws on her experience of growing up in rural farming community and contrasts it to her years spent in the city as a journalist.
A very thought provoking read.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley who provided this arc in return for a honest review.

I have every cookery book Anna Jones has ever written, so I think I am a fan and I found this book very interesting, because like the author I grew up very rural, but now live in the city. There was a lot I found myself agreeing with the author, empathising with her thoughts and the tension she feels and yet, there is also that weird privilege of Londoners (new and old) that they don't even realise they have... I am honestly a bit torn about this book.

'Divide' is an engaging read that mixes memoir with interviews with a wide range of people from agriculture. Jones comes from a farming family, and she writes movingly of her Welsh farming heritage and the (often tested) bonds between her family and the land they have variously owned, lost, and regained.

The conversations in this book are ones gathered over a number of years. There's even a viewpoint or two thrown in from the USA (although I wish Jones had clearly challenged - at least in the narrative to the reader - the belief expressed by one farmer that his farming was having no impact on the environment because he uses less artificial fertiliser than farmers used to).

Throughout 'Divide', a motif repeats: "Farming is part of me, so to criticise farming is to shake my very being". This is a notion I guess I was semi-aware of before, but this book has truly spelled it out for me, and has helped me to better understand the often bitter debates currently going on between conservationists, farmers, and others in the UK.

Recommended for anyone with an interest in the future management of the UK countryside!

(With thanks to Octopus Publishing and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)