Helm

A wondrous, elemental novel from ‘a writer of show-stopping genius’ (Guardian). Helm is a ferocious, mischievous wind – a subject of folklore and awe, who has blasted the sublime landscape of the Eden Valley since the very dawn of time. Through the stories of those who’ve obsessed over this phenomenon, Helm’s extraordinary history is formed: the Neolithic tribe who tried to placate Helm, the Dark Age wizard priest who wanted to banish Helm, the Victorian steam engineer who attempted to capture Helm – and the farmer’s daughter who loved Helm.

But now Dr Selima Sutar, surrounded by infinite clouds and measuring instruments in her observation hut, fears human pollution is killing Helm. Rich, wild and vital, Helm is the story of a unique life force, and of a relationship: between nature and people, neither of whom can weather life without the other.

The Helm Wind is a named wind in Cumbria,[1] a strong north-easterly wind which blows down the south-west slope of Cross Fell. It is the only named wind in Britain, although many other mountain regions in Britain exhibit the same phenomenon when the weather conditions are favourable. It may take its name from the helmet or cap of cloud which forms above Cross Fell, known as the Helm Bar, since a line of clouds over the fells can predict and accompany a Helm.

The Author

Cumbrian – born and bred!

Hailed as a ‘writer of show-stopping genius’ and a two-time Man Booker Prize nominee, she is the award-winning author of six novels and three short-story collections. Notably, she is the only author to win the prestigious BBC National Short Story Award twice —first in 2013 with Mrs Fox and again in 2020 with The Grotesques.

Sarah Hall was born in the Lake District in 1974. She received a BA joint honours in English and Art History from Aberystwyth University, Wales, an MLitt in Creative Writing from St Andrews, Scotland; and an honorary doctorate from Lancaster University.

Novels

She is the author of Haweswater, which won the 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel, a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award, and a Lakeland Book of the Year prize. In 2004, her second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia region), and the Prix Femina Etranger (France), and long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Her third novel, The Carhullan Army,  was published in 2007, and won the 2006/07 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tiptree Jr. Award, a Lakeland Book of the Year prize; it was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction, and long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Award. The Carhullan Army was listed as one of The Times 100 Best Books of the Decade.

Her fourth novel, How To Paint A Dead Man, was published in 2009, was long-listed for the Man Booker prize and won the Portico Prize for Fiction 2010.

The Wolf Border, her fifth novel, was published in 2015, to much critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for The Southbank Sky Arts Awards and the James Tate Memorial Black prize, and it won the 2015 Cumbria Life Culture Awards ‘Writer of the Year’ prize. The film rights are held by AC Chapter One in partnership with Climate Spring.

Sarah’s sixth novel, Burntcoat, was shortlisted for the Southbank Sly Arts Award and the National Circle Awards in the USA.

Short Story Collections

Her first collection of short stories, titled The Beautiful Indifference, was published by Faber & Faber in November 2011. It won the Portico Prize for Fiction 2012 and the Edge Hill short story prize, and it was also short-listed for the Frank O’Connor Prize. The story Butcher’s Perfume was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award.

Her second collection, Madame Zero, was published in 2017. It was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize (winning the ‘Readers’ Prize’ category) and won the East Anglian Book of the Year Fiction category. The lead story, Mrs Fox, won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2013. The story Goodnight Nobody won an O’Henry Prize in the USA. The story Evie was shortlisted for the Sunday Times (EFG/Audible) Prize.

Sarah’s third short story collection, Sudden Traveller, was published in November 2019. The title story was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2018.

She went on to win the BBC National Short Story Award for The Grotesques, another story in the collection, and is the first and only author to have won the award twice. It was also honoured as a finalist for the 2020 ASME (American Society of Magazine Editors) Award for Fiction. The collection was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial prize and The Edge Hill prize.