About Helen Whybrow and The Salt Stones
Stories about my life as a shepherd, a mother, and life in a rural mountain community. I write the opposite of Romantasy: I am fascinated by what’s real, and what it has to tell us. I’ve been a sheep farmer, immersing myself in the natural world, for 25 years, and it never fails to turn up stories. It’s dirty, but in a different way.
The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life is my book (Milkweed Editions, June 2025) about shepherding, beauty and loss, how to feel alive, how to care for what we love. This sub stack began as a companion to the book, more stories for people who feel, or want to feel, a close connection to the land; and who share my longing to re-examine our relationship to nature, to the cycles of life and death, and to time.
My stories — wide-ranging, personal — are always in some way about how we connect to ourselves, each other, and the land. You could say that I’m obsessed with the idea of belonging, in all its forms. Thank you for coming this far with me.
Why subscribe?
Everything I write here will be free to anyone who wants to read it. No pay wall. No tiers of membership. No confusion. But if you like what you read and want to offer your encouragement in the form of a subscription, I will hugely appreciate it. Farming and writing are labors of love, poorly paid by our culture, and so I appreciate the potential to build here a community of care that supports creativity out of simple, heartfelt generosity. Thank you. Thank you.
