MAN WHO PLANTED TREES (HARVILL PB)

In 1910, while hiking through a wind-swept valley in Provence, a man comes across a shepherd called Elzéard Bouffier sorting and then planting hundreds of acorns. Ten years later, after surviving the First World War, the man visits the shepherd again and sees the young forest he has created spreading slowly over the valley. Elzéard’s silent, solitary work continues through the years, creating a verdant landscape which is testament to one man’s creative instinct and presents a message of hope for the future.