It’s rare that I take an interest when a book I love gets turned into a movie – usually I don’t even watch it. But a couple of years ago, it was announced that Saoirse Ronan was going to be starring in ‘The Outrun’, and Christ was I excited. It’s an irresistible story. Amy Liptrot, a young woman from the Orkney Islands, moves to London to be at the heart of things. But after years of partying her jobs, health, and relationships away, she realises she needs to get sober, and returns home to connect with nature and the land that made her. One of the reasons I knew the film would be good (other than Saoirse) is that the book is so romantically written. While Liptrot doesn’t shy away from the grim reality of living with alcoholism, her writing has a nostalgic quality, whether she’s writing about day-drinking in East London or wild swimming in the North Sea. MG

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