When Bernard and Marie Kelly swapped their successful but unfulfilled lives in London for a remote Cumbrian farmhouse on the Scottish borders, they had no idea their lives were about to undergo an even more drastic upheaval.

The story began with the arrival on their doorstep of a foundling — a two-day-old fragile roe deer fawn, weighing less than a bag of sugar. Breeze — as they named her — set them on a-two-year journey that was to change their lives forever. She was utterly dependent on them for her survival, and the knowledge of how to raise Breeze was learned the hard way, through sleepless nights and anxiety-filled days. They were helped in their task by their three huge dogs, particularly their Mastiff Emma, who from the moment she set eyes on Breeze staked a claim to being her surrogate mother; Jester the Great Dane and Sheba the German Shepherd took on the role of loving aunties.

Their sole aim was to raise Breeze to maturity so that she could return to her life in the wild; the moment when she goes back to the forest with a new-found mate is one of intense joy mingled with sadness. But it was not the last time they were to encounter Breeze ...

Breeze: Waif of the Wild is an extraordinary, tender love story — the love not only between humans and a wild animal, but also between three dogs and a deer. It is a story of tears and laughter, hope and despair, that cannot fail to touch the hearts of all who read it.

The book is illustrated with Marie’s own enchanting photographs of Breeze and the dogs growing up together.