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Cover of Down Burrow Lane

Down Burrow Lane

The heartwarming true story of love, loss and a Devon farm that changed thousands of lives

Michael Morpurgo

Written by
Michael Morpurgo
Read by
Michael Morpurgo
Length
5 hrs 26 min
Publisher
Hodder Press
Released
2026-09-17

Shelved under

What it is

'A warm, rich, generous book. A pleasure from first page to last.' KATHERINE RUNDELL 'A moving, vulnerable portrait of love, nature and a life well-lived' RORY STEWART 'Touching and extraordinary, this true story seems like a fairy tale' JOANNA LUMLEY

The long-awaited memoir of life and love on a Devon farm - Michael Morpurgo's most personal and moving book to date

Fifty years ago, Michael and Clare Morpurgo packed their young family into a car in London and set off for a remote farm in rural Devon, down a narrow track called Burrow Lane.

It was on this magical farm that Michael, then a young schoolteacher, became a writer. Over the years, it would inspire many of his best-loved books, including War Horse and Private Peaceful.

Here, Michael and Clare raised their family - and, in many ways, grew up themselves. They also welcomed more than 100,000 children from towns and cities to experience life in the countryside through their charity, Farms for City Children.

This is the remarkable love story of Michael and Clare, and an account of the joys and hardships of life on the farm across five decades: a journey through the seasons and years that shaped the land around them, and the lives of the children forever changed by their time there.

On the charts

Last charted September 8, 2026. Its best position was 15 on Bestsellers in Sports & Outdoors, reached September 3, 2026. Seen on 2 charts over 3 days of readings, the first on September 2, 2026.

ChartBestDaysLast seen
Sports & Outdoors
Bestsellers 15 1 day September 3, 2026
Science & Engineering
Bestsellers 18 1 day September 3, 2026

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