LAWRENCE Alderson is an internationally renowned author of technical books on livestock breeding and production, but this novel – his first work of fiction – is very much a human story.

Spanning 60 years, A Pennine Dynasty follows the contrasting careers of two brothers and the impact of women on their lives.

It has a cast of characters large enough to populate a Bollywood movie – which probably means too many.

However, on the plus side Peter King, chairman of the European Livestock Association, has praised the book for its “compelling and unpredictable plot”, with which readers with an interest in rural family dynasties may well concur.