Anglo-Spanish Writer & Artist
HUMAN, ANIMAL
A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick
Shortlisted for the New Adult Book Prize
Shortlisted for Book of the Year (Discover)
at the British Book Awards
Dairy farmer George Calvert is fighting to keep the family business afloat. Worried about the future but resistant to change, he refuses to face the reality of his failing farm, his elderly mother's declining health and his troubled relationship with his youngest son, Tom.
Newly returned from university, Tom isolates himself in his childhood bedroom, guarding the truth of his gender identity.
When animal rights activists break into the cowshed one morning and Tom appears to side with the protesters, father and son lock horns. As the Calverts begin to unravel, a decades-old secret surfaces - one that might rip them apart completely, or finally unite them.
A deeply moving debut about one family's struggle to find connection in a rapidly changing world, Human, Animal is an ode to the wild, a journey of self-discovery and a hopeful path to common ground.
Out now
PRESS
The five most uplifting LGBTQ+ novels, The i Paper, 27 June 2026
'Standout' New Adult Book Prize shortlist reflects 'wealth of talent' in the industry, The Bookseller, 28 August, 2025
Review: The Weight of History, Dawn, 13 April, 2025
Review: In Human, Animal, it's the humans who shine, Michigan Quarterly Review
Review: Human, Animal, Scene magazine, 17 March, 2025
Best reads of 2025, DNA magazine, 1 December 2025
The Radio 2 Book Club: Seth Insua discusses his debut novel, Human, Animal, BBC Sounds, 18 February, 2025
The best books of 2025, GQ, 18 February, 2025
Who are your LGBTQ+ trailblazers?, Attitude, 13 February, 2025
From love obsessions to fantasy crime — our pick of the best new debut fiction, Financial Times, 27 January, 2025
Human, Animal selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox, January 2025
VERVE Books buys debut from Seth Insua, The Bookseller, 24 June, 2024
VERVE signs Seth Insua debut - 'as gripping as it is moving', BookBrunch, 24 June, 2024
Beautifully, skilfully told with real tension and gorgeous characters, Human, Animal moved me to tears. Seth Insua writes with so much kindness, empathy and wisdom; everyone is understood and forgiven and revealed. The narrative sneaks up in tiny moments packed with emotion that never become overwrought. Taut, precise, witty, insightful, it barrelled me along. Remarkable, inspirational writing.
Russell T Davies,
writer of Queer As Folk and It's A Sin
Big-hearted and incisive, tender and rough, Human, Animal both inhabits the pained division of the present day and hearkens to the damages of the past. A rare, triumphant debut.
August Thompson, author of Anyone's Ghost
Human, Animal is a masterclass in empathy, perfect for our divided present (and past) times. Astutely emotional and lyrical while never being overwrought, Insua's quietly gorgeous prose delivers huge, profound moments about what it means to belong, care for, inherit and live amongst humans and animals. It is a beautiful addition to the family saga and rural queer canons - and don't we need more of those! I love this book!
Henry Fry, author of First Time For Everything
Empathetic, beautifully written, and deeply moving, Seth Insua's debut novel explores generational trauma and the strength it takes to truly understand those closest to us. A bridge across viewpoints in divided times, Human, Animal is a must-read.
Bonnie Burke-Patel, author of I Died at Fallow Hall
Impressive... The characterisation is so adept... [and] never fails to convince.
Financial Times
In his remarkable debut, Seth Insua achieves the feat of delivering on a compelling drama while also making the reader think and feel about some profound things: the status of human beings on this planet, the struggle to cross generational divides, the human stories around gender identity and sexuality, the enduring effects of conflict and prejudice. Timely, funny and moving, Human, Animal reminds us how powerful the novel can be in the hands of a true writer.
Charles Fernyhough, author of The Auctioneer and A Box of Birds
Human, Animal is a formidable saga of British farming - spinning a moving tale of belonging, family, and land that brings country life into fierce reckoning with the modern world. As vital and sweeping as the countryside it enfolds us in.
Scott Preston, author of The Borrowed Hills
A beautiful, clever debut, written with such tenderness for its muddled, struggling cast. Seth Insua balances polarised worlds - the young and old, the urban and rural, the expected and forbidden - to create a novel so full of generosity and insight.
Abigail Dean, author of Girl A and Day One
Human, Animal is a rich and compelling debut from a writer with a striking talent for weaving together complex narrative strands in order to create a sophisticated, symphonic whole. Seth Insua is one to watch.
Barney Norris, author of Five Rivers Met On A Wooded Plain, Turning For Home, The Vanishing Hours and Undercurrent
Seth Insua probes the spaces between black-and-white-thinking with immeasurable sensitivity. Insua holds a mirror up to the 'good' of animal rights campaigning, and the 'evil' of dairy farming, to show that the lines aren't so clear cut, and that life is much messier. Messy, also, is the conflict between traditional values and the advancement of modern technology, of trying to express one's queerness in such a hypermasculine setting. Human, Animal manages to explore all this, and the anxious convergence of the past, present and future, with staggering clarity. A truly impressive debut.
Joshua Jones, author of Local Fires
A searingly powerful novel, Human, Animal grapples with questions of identity, change and family, delivering a nuanced and moving story about the desire for connection and acceptance.
Lucy Ashe,
author of Clara & Olivia
and The Sleeping Beauties
Seth Insua’s debut is nothing short of breathtaking. His lyrical prose and emotionally raw characters had me hooked from the start, weaving a powerful narrative about queer identity, family, and the search for belonging. It boldly confronts the question: can we love those who challenge our very existence? A beautifully crafted, deeply resonant story that every LGBTQ+ reader will feel in their bones.
Damian Kerlin, author of
Memories from the Dance Floor
Human, Animal is a gorgeously written debut that delves into the nuances of family and queer identity. It kept me hooked from start to finish.
Amy Feltman, author of Willa & Hesper and All The Things We Don't Talk About
Insua's prose is sparse yet full of feeling.
Human, Animal is a compelling story
beautifully written.
Madeline Docherty, author of Gender Theory
Seth Insua understands at a deep level how the British heart and mind struggles to come to terms with nature or to leave it behind — beneath the surface of this beguiling novel is the teeming life of the soil, the pull of the moon, hooves, blood and meat. A timely meditation on conflict, value and possibility that gently urges the only worthwhile thing, to hold on where we can, to put it into words.
Nick Blackburn, author of The Reactor
It isn’t an easy thing, taking huge, emotive subjects like animal rights, gender, aging, and war, and combining them into a single novel, but in Human, Animal, Insua makes it appear effortless. Alderdown, a small, family-run dairy farm, is doing its best to survive in the twenty-first century. But when animal welfare group LivestockAid run an exposé of the farm and its practices, much more becomes exposed, and a chain of events is put in motion that will change the lives of everyone involved. The characters through which we view the story – a dairy farmer; his second born, now a young adult; and a German prisoner of war – are beautifully drawn, deeply flawed, and absolutely real. Parallel narratives of present-day and wartime Alderdown exist in perfect symmetry, and weave together in a reminder that nothing exists on a binary, and the beauty and sorrow and nuance of being a human animal lies within the vast spectrum between black and white. I could not get enough of this beautiful book.
Eirinie Lapidaki, author of The Wives of Halcyon
In his poignant, lyrical debut novel, Insua reminds us that - beneath our painted faces and constructed facades - we are all mere bones and flesh and beating hearts. A stunning read that will contribute thoughtfully about how to bridge the generational divide regarding gender differences, Human, Animal is about remembering our shared humanity that has the potential to reunite us under one sun in this complex, ever-changing, yet beautiful world.
Attitude
I can't stop thinking about Human, Animal. Through beautiful, razor-sharp prose and seamless metaphor, Insua renders a heartbreaking but hopeful portrait of a family struggling to understand each other. A careful examination of all the anger, joy and pain that make up a family, that make us struggle and thrive, that make us uniquely human in a world that is quickly changing.
Curtis Garner, author of Isaac
One of the most thought-provoking books I've read this year, Human, Animal is a debut novel to watch out for. It's one of those books where offering a plot summary feels reductive because it's about so many things - family, queerness, acceptance, ageing, secrets, activism - and it's all handled with such empathy and poignancy. There are no easy answers offered to difficult questions, and the characters are beautifully rendered in all their complexity.
Naomi Kelsey, author of The Burnings
Blisteringly emotional, exploring the complex folds of family bonds. The last page left me haunted. Completely unmissable.
Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb
Human, Animal takes us right to the heart of life on the modern farm, a landscape where numerous issues - ethical, political, environmental - are playing out daily. It is a gripping read, and Seth Insua is a deft and skilful storyteller. He treats his characters with compassion, rather than judgment, and offers a compelling portrait of climate anxiety and intergenerational angst.
Jack Parlett, author of Fire Island
I enjoyed it tremendously. A fantastic book, with brilliantly realised voices and a thoughtful exploration of progression, veganism and queerness.
Sara Cox, BBC Radio 2
Sparse, stirring and unexpected, Human, Animal is a vivid novel about revelations and painful longing.
Misha Honcharenko, author of Trap Unfolds Me Greedily
Compelling, conflicting and heartbreaking, Human, Animal had my heart pounding in my throat until I'd devoured every last page. A bold and unforgettable novel that not only keeps the reader gripped, but above all, teaches us what it is to be human. This book will win every single award. Insua is a revelation.
Awais Khan, author of No Honour and Someone Like Her
A glorious debut brimming over with tenderness and emotional grit. It is both deeply ruminative and acutely scintillating. Many months later this sublime story is still trilling in my chest - it's anchored in now, gladly so. The heart leaps and lunges for whatever comes next.
Michael Pedersen, Edinburgh Makar, author of Muckle Flugga and Boy Friends
Insua inhabits his characters' opposing viewpoints with exceptional sensitivity, to tell a story that's at once compelling, well-rounded, and deeply humane
Florence Knapp, author of The Names
Beautiful, wise and wonderfully crafted.
Matt Cain, author of The Castle of Stories
One of those debuts that makes you hopeful for the state of contemporary fiction; heartfelt but unafraid of showing the harshness of life. I look forward to more from Insua
Damian Barr, author of The Two Roberts, You Will Be Safe Here and Maggie & Me
It is a true feat to be able to write a book about such opposing camps without alienating any of them. Seth Insua achieves this beautifully. Human, Animal is deeply nuanced and layered. A masterclass in character development. Utterly sad at times, it is ultimately hopeful, and fills us with compassion for non-human animals, but also, for humans - even those whose views we don't agree with
The Vegan Society
Insua is excellent at writing arguments... The accuracy with which he models how easy it is for the passionate to muddy their own arguments, especially when the political intersects with the personal, is perhaps Human, Animal's greatest achievement... Expertly characterized... Subtly beautiful prose
Michigan Quarterly Review
This debut novel is a knockout... Complex dual storylines are explored with great compassion and emotional breadth. The characterisation is superb: psychologically astute and all too human... Highly recommended
DNA magazine
A luminous exploration of how we might create meaningful dialogue in a world often divided by ideology...With remarkable sensitivity, Insua captures the exquisite complexity of human connection: how we hurt, heal, and ultimately transform together... A stunning debut that will resonate with anyone who has ever navigated the challenging, beautiful terrain of becoming fully, unapologetically themselves
Scene magazine
A spellbinding tale of three generations of a family and the farm that sustains them. Insua's writing is packed with empathy and tenderness
Santanu Bhattacharya, author of Deviants and One Small Voice
Human, Animal explores the delicate relationships in a family, the tension and the love that simmers in the background. One finds oneself rooting for all of the characters at some point, and feeling a connection with each and every one of them. Insua's prose is lyrical and palpable
Majid Parsa, author of The Ayatollah's Gaze
Human, Animal is remarkably current and culturally astute and gloriously queer, but above all: it's kind. It hums with humanity. Insua treats every character with an even hand, reminding us that behind the polarisation of these times, we're all just trying our best, despite the ways we hurt each other. It shows that harmony is possible if we put down our defences long enough to reconnect. I'm blown away that this is a debut and so excited to see what Insua writes next
Emily Buchanan, author of Send Flowers
Human, Animal is a brilliant, insightful debut about generational differences and identity, written with poise, sensitivity and a wry wit. It considers matters of self and self-discovery, politics and society, and our histories - individual and collective - all through the lens of a generational farming family whose existence and way of life seem so challenged by the twenty-first century. I was particularly impressed by the way Insua handles complex matters of identity, and I keenly sensed that he'd approached his characters with deep love and understanding. There is real heart and beauty to the book, and readers will find themselves propelled by the style as much as by the plot; the first sentence is the best I've read in years. Outstanding!
Rupert Dastur, author of Cloudless
The novel explores the connections between the social and political and the past and present, looking at how much of our identities we inherit, and the ways in which history repeats and evolves at the same time. A clever debut with an opening line you'll be thinking about for months
GQ magazine
Just brilliant. So layered. I loved it. The best book I've read in ages. Sensational.
Dr James Greenwood, BBC One
A thought-provoking debut that interrogates many issues with balance and nuance... A layered and emotionally resonant read