The Chief Shepherdess cover art

The Chief Shepherdess

Lessons in Life, Love and Farming

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Chief Shepherdess

By: Zoe Colville
Narrated by: Zoe Colville
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

"I grab the motionless lamb, which is frighteningly slippery, and scramble on my feet, swinging its little body around to help it breathe. I see its chest move, then it sneezes and starts breathing. It's stunned by its delivery experience. As am I. I'm high on adrenaline. Tears are streaming down my face. I pop the lamb down on the ground and start frantically rubbing its tiny body... Looking back, I can see that this was one of the first moments of questioning whether I'm truly cut out for farming and realising that the answer might be...yes"

Zoë Colville spent years in a fancy hair salon with a long list of clients, living on cigarettes, croissants, and a shoestring. It was everything she'd ever wanted. But when an unexpected and overwhelming loss caused her life to shift unexpectedly, she found herself on a different path. One where the only use for a hairdryer is warming new-born lambs; where the cycle of life on a farm gives new meaning on purpose, and where nature is both a strict teacher and a balm to soothe the pressures of everyday life.

Alongside her long-term boyfriend, Zoë is now a full-time farmer, business owner and activist. In this memoir, she speaks vivaciously, humourously, and candidly about the lessons learned along the way, from mental health, social media and identity to surviving as an entrepreneur in a shifting economy. And through those lessons - in love, loss, and lambing - discovering something even more important: that it's always the right time to take a bold step and try something new.

©2023 Zoe Colville (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Agricultural & Food Sciences Animal Husbandry Animals Biological Sciences Grief & Loss Outdoors & Nature Personal Development Rural Science Sociology

Listeners also enjoyed...

Call Me Red cover art
The Farmer's Wife cover art
My Farming Life cover art
One Girl and Her Dogs cover art
Make Hay While the Sun Shines cover art
Rooted cover art
What the Flock! cover art
Fletchers on the Farm cover art
Our Wild Farming Life: Adventures on a Scottish Highland Croft cover art
The Patchwork Family cover art
Village Vets cover art
Britain According to Kaleb cover art
A Year on Our Farm cover art
The Highland Vet cover art
Springtime at Cannon Hall Farm cover art
Murder on the Farm cover art

Critic reviews

"A new breed of shepherdess blazing a trail across social media, challenging outdated ideas about the job and capturing the public's imagination along the way." (Daily Mail)

"The shepherdess whose flock you definitely need to follow." (Hello!)

All stars
Most relevant
I’m one of those people on Instagram that find Zoë’s content an escape, a learning platform, a space of honesty with a good mix of joy and pure unfiltered reality of farm life and life in general.
I’ve really enjoyed this audiobook, which has given me a little more context of her story, as well as going deeper into the ups and downs of farm life.
Thank you Zoë, for sharing so much of yourself and your experience, with vulnerability and openness.

Thank you Zoë

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I really enjoyed this so much and found it to be really refreshing, I thoroughly loved every minute and found my self both laughing and crying during this! An absolute stellar book narrated fantastically also! Deffo crossing my fingers for another in the future!

Fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Love this raw honest account of life from Zoe. I was one moment hooting with laughter the next crying real tears. Even if you’re not into farming you will enjoy this relatable book. I highly recommend it

Fresh, Funny, all round fun book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved it! Made me cry more than I expected it would and really enjoyed listening to the Audible version

So good!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great book to listen to.
Very emotional when Zoe talked about her dad.
moments when I found myself laughing out loud on the train.
You achieved so much in the last few years.
well done

Loved it!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews