I enjoyed most of this book
★★★★☆ – CALSPIE: 8.29
Title: Horse
Author: Geraldine Brooks
Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction
First Published: 2022
Edition: Hardback, published by Little, Brown in 2022
FROM THE BLURB: Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
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There was so much about this book I loved, but there were also things that bothered me. First of all, this was a very ‘me’ book in many ways. I like historic horse racing books in which the horse plays a big role. I find it a fascinating world. Even if I don’t love horse racing the way I used to, because of the way the horses are handled, as a historical subject I find it fascinating.
For me, this was very much as a book of two halves. The historical parts that centre around Jarret, the horse’s enslaved groom, were very well written and I was very much invested in him and the horse. Eventhough Jarret’s story was fiction, it made for a good story and I hope that there was someone who cared for Lexington the way Jarret did in the story. I am sure there was.
The part that did not quite work for me as well was the contemporary half of the books. In the beginning I enjoyed reading about Jess’s work and I wished they had spent more time on her working on Lexington’s skeleton. Instead we get a story that hangs on a romance between her and Theo, a Black man, that drives point after point about racism home rather heavy handedly. Parts are also written from Theo’s point of view. And I think this is where my issue is. Although I absolutely think that stories about racism are important, I am not sure a white woman should write from Theo’s point of view. It felt very wrong and inauthentic to me, whereas I did not feel the same when she wrote from Jarret’s point of view. Maybe this was because with Jarret she was not talking about a contemporary experience. I absolutely believe that, as she explains in her afterword, that she did her research, but it just felt off for me. It just did not work for me. This part of the book just seemed to concentrate on the wrong things. It should have kept on the subject of Lexington and what happens to his bones and the Scott paintings rather than kind of talking about those things as an afterthought.
If the contemporary parts had been curtailed quite a bit and if they had left out the romance, this could have been one of my favourite books I read recently. As it is, those parts let a very interesting and engaging book down a bit. Although I understand why the author chose that ending to the contemporary story, I don’t think it quite worked here. It did not have to end that way to make a point. The historical story was far better put together in my humble opinion and far more .
Despite my issues with this novel, I enjoyed it quite a bit and I would love to read more books like this.
4.25 out of 5 stars
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CALSPIE: 8.29
- Characters: 8
- Ambience: 8
- Language: 8
- Story: 8.5
- Pacing: 7.5
- Interest: 9.5
- Enjoyment: 8.5
Lola Et La Vie 