Clover Stroud writes unflinchingly about themes drawn from her own life: love, sex, death, motherhood, and grief, to name a few.

She's published three memoirs, including The Wild Other, which was shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Her forthcoming book, The Giant on the Skyline: On Home, Belonging and Learning To Let Go, will publish next year.

Clover was brought up in a large family in Oxfordshire. A seemingly idyllic, horse-loving childhood was interrupted when her mother sustained brain damage in a riding accident when Clover was just 16. 

Dealing with the trauma led some of the younger family members in unusual directions. Clover joined gypsy travellers for a period before becoming a jockey and, eventually, finding herself in Texas as a rodeo rider. Meanwhile, her sister Nell had run away to join the circus. Sadly, Nell lost a battle with breast cancer in 2019.

Clover's book, The Red of My Blood: A Death and Life Story, charts her first year after losing Nell. It's a book that is raw, honest, deeply personal, and profoundly meaningful for people attempting to deal with their own grief.