Author gives rural Kilkenny the Bridget Jones treatment

The debut novel Country Girl at Heart by Kilkenny author Lorna Sixsmith features a love triangle reminiscent of Bridget Jones.

Written in a diary format, Kelly O’Sullivan left London with a broken heart and all her worldly possessions (her kindle, car, clothing and a cat) for her aunt’s farm in rural Ireland. She intends to remain single but suave accountant, Hugh O’Connor, is determined to change her mind.

There’s also sensible Steve, her neighbouring farmer on big red tractor, pulling her car from a snowdrift and helping her find the missing goats on a dark wintery evening.

Unexpectedly thrown into the farming deep end, Kelly’s dreams of a peaceful rural retreat become a comedy of agricultural errors. She hadn’t eckoned on wrangling a goat with attitude, driving big machinery or supervising students at the mart. There’s also the issue of many admirers who view her teaching career and her ‘might-inherit-a-farm’ status as perfect ‘laying hen’ wife potential.

“I wanted this novel to reflect the ups and downs, the laughter and the tribulations of farming life,” says author, Lorna Sixsmith, herself a dairy farmer in North Kilkenny, “and I’ve dedicated this book to farming women as they bring so much to rural societies and economies whether they claim to be ‘just standing in a gap’ or they’re running the farm single-handedly.”

As Sixsmith has set the novel in her local area of Castlecomer with the main character attending the local athletic club, teaching in Kilkenny and enjoying the walks around Castlecomer Discovery Park, I ask if much of her own life is reflected in the book.

“Some farming events made it into the book, for example, when my wellies were stuck in mud and my husband had to rescue them, and when Megan the goat had quintuplets. I had a goat called Becky who inspired the truculent and stubborn goat in the novel. I don’t run mini marathons though. Indeed, I only run when the cattle break out.”

Sixsmith published three humourous non fiction books about farming life between 2013-2016: Would You Marry a Farmer, How to be a Perfect Farm Wife and An Ideal Farm Husband, plus a farming memoir Till the Cows Come Home in 2018.

Why the change to fiction?

“So many people wonder what farming life is like. Their only experiences may have been childhood visits to a relative’s farm or open days on farms. I wanted to show the perspective of such a person, she’s not accustomed to farming beyond spending four summer holidays with her aunt and uncle, twenty years previously. We see her adjusting to working on a small farm, getting involved in community events and being in a ‘goldfish bowl’, the centre of attention.”

Country Girl at Heart is a romantic comedy about finding love in unexpected places, rediscovering oneself in the most ridiculous situations and embracing the life you never expected.

Country Girl on paperback is available for €14.99 and €5.99 for the eBook.

The book is available to purchase on Amazon and at lornasixsmithbooks.com