The Ranch at the End of the World is a romantic adventure story featuring Nell Dart, a young, troubled member of the LGBTQ+ community. Written by Emma Bettridge, who is also a part of our community, The Ranch at the End of the World features several struggling teenagers from various backgrounds who are all given their last chance to gain an education at the Ranch at the End of the World.
The story synopsis runs like this. Nell Dart has been kicked out of school and onto a bus, which has taken her to the middle of nowhere (Wales). Leaving behind her first love, Soph, she embarks on an adventure, searching for a stolen horse and spending a night alone with Fran, whose mum manages the Ranch, in the forest. Surrounded by a group of other ‘dropouts’, Nell is still trying to find herself in the hills of rural Wales.
QX asked the author to tell us about the whys and wherefores of the book. This is what she had to say.
by Emma Bettridge
There were lots of reasons why I wanted to write The Ranch at the End of the World, with LGBTQ+ characters, in the world of alternative education. And one of those reasons was, of course, heartbreak. The year was 2021, my girlfriend and I were splitting up, and covid broke the world. Panic over; I’m not going to dwell on such things. I don’t need to; I poured it all into this book. You’re welcome. Writing it was a way for me to get a lot of the contrary thoughts and feelings outside of myself and into something tangible.
These were some of the other reasons I wrote The Ranch at the End of the World:
I wanted to write characters that were often background or sidelined in books I’d read. Or in TV shows I’d watched. It’s getting better (Dead Loch anyone?), but it’s not there yet.
I wanted to talk about the fact that it’s not ‘mainstream’ to feel 100% comfortable being out and gay, living in the countryside.
As time creeps on, I find myself evermore railing against the notion of what is ‘normal’. The societal tradition of a heteronormative, marriage/kids society is changing for sure, but it’s still a thing not to go down that route. Which I haven’t. For many reasons I don’t have time for here. I wanted to write a story which didn’t depend on tying up in a happy ever after romance. Apologies for that spoiler.
Other reasons:
The way school can be so claustrophobic growing up and how being forced out of that world, as Nell is in the book, can make changes which are helpful. That alternative education provision can be life changing for the people offered it.
That not everyone thinks in the same way, and that’s a good thing.
That the insecurity of being a teenager can, at times, make people horrible to each other.
That it’s important to represent all of the different types of lives we lead. I remember how amazing it felt to read/see characters I could relate to. The power in that, it gave me power.
But really, fundamentally, I wanted to write something I’d want to read. As my 14 year old queer self and as my 40 (something) year old queer self.
We meet Nell at probably her lowest point. She’s leaving behind the girl she loves, who broke her heart, and is heading into the absolute unknown without the safety of this love. It’s a bad time. To add to the pain, she’s on a bus with a load of randoms heading into the wilds of rural Wales, to go spend time on a horse farm. Nell doesn’t know much about horses. Nell doesn’t know much about herself, to be fair. She knows something had to change, she’s knows that her and Soph had hit a wall, and she thinks she knows that the only way is up. Or something like that.
The story follows a group of strangers as they navigate rural Wales, feral horses and how to communicate with each other. There’s randomly an eclipse, a trail of blood and a missing horse. Which I think you’ll agree, covers most story desires.
Let me know what you think – buy your copy here.
