Book of the Week: HELM by Sarah Hall

Britain's only named wind, Helm, has been roaring down Eden Valley in Cumbria since winds began. Sarah Hall's eloquent novel tells Helm's story through the swathe of human history, from the Neolithic to the present, through the experiences of those whose lives it has blown through. Helm is also the wider story of humanity’s relationship with nature, a warning of what will be lost if we do not mend our part of that relationship, and an invitation to live more wildly and more wisely.

• The wind was like a childhhood friend.

• Slow motion.

• Radical optimism.

• Making climate catastrophe feel real.

• Decentring human primacy.

• Blow by blow.

• An ill wind.

• A maker’s mark.

• A balloon ride.

• The writer on writing.

• Other books on the 2025 Goldsmiths Prize short list.