Horse | Geraldine Brooks

I'm completely terrified at the thought of being on a horse. When I was a youngster, I took horseback riding lessons and was put on a large horse "because I was tall."! I've been on a few resort horses since but I really much prefer horses when I'm on the ground and they're behind a fence.

Yet, I've been around horse-racing my whole life. My dad was a photographer, and his subjects were thoroughbred racehorses. He would sometimes take me out to the barn area of the track in the morning. More than once, he pulled me to safety before I got kicked (bringing about the previously-mentioned fear of horses, no doubt). So I was surprised to learn that I'd totally missed hearing about Horse, a novel by Geraldine Brooks, that's set in the world of racehorses (in the mid 19th century). And the book is about race, blending three different story lines in three different time periods to tell a compelling story. One of my all-time favorite novel structures!

The characters of the book are well-drawn and interesting people. Jarrett, Theo and Jess are my favorites. I've seen people who are "horse people" with the look on their face that Brooks describes with Jarrett. Some people just like horses more than they like people, and Brooks does a great job drawing that out about Jarrett. Theo and Jess tell a more contemporary story about race, told in a way that really resonated with me. Full disclosure: Brooks is a white woman writing about race and black experience.

I've read other books by Brooks and thought they were quite good. I would have to do more research on her, but Brooks was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her book March (which I read) that tells the story of the absent Mr. March of Little Women fame. Based on the bio on the flyleaf, she has a day job, too, which impressed the socks off of me. As good as she is, I haven't necessarily sought out books by Brooks. But when my friend Shelly recommended Horse (and I completely trust her recommendations so I put it on my hold list immediately!) I fell right into the story and loved it. I love the format of intertwining stories, finding them real page-turners as I look for the threads in each story that will eventually braid together at the end.

Last, I received this newsletter "The Morning" from the NY Times and it made me think about all the books I've read and how I can't always remember them. Does that mean they didn't have an impact on me? You might be interested in this post, as well. The subhead is If we can’t remember the things we’ve read and watched and even loved, do they still “count”?