Talley loves her
life on her family’s horse farm. She has wonderful experiences,
finding a gosling, taking care of her beloved horse. Then it all
changes. Her father leaves, and she’s left with her mother and
older brother. On top of that, Talley’s horse has to be put down.
Talley has problems dealing with her new world and goes off to a
pricey girls school. Her mother sends Ian, the horse her father left
behind, for her to work with. He’s wild, but Talley perseveres and
tries to train him.
To make matters more
confusing for Talley, her father visits her at school, taking her out
to lunch. This precipitates her going into therapy. From there, her
life begins to improve as does her ability to deal with Ian, even to
deciding to enter a horse show.
I loved the idea of
the book. I grew up around horses and raised them as an adult.
However, the book didn’t live up to it’s promise. I enjoyed the
chapters describing life on the farm and found them realistic.
However, as the book progresses, the author breaks the narrative into
Talley as a child and as an adult. She uses tense to distinguish the
sections, but sometimes it was confusing when the transitions were
very short.
The writing was slow
and stilted. I felt the author was trying for a poetic effect that
didn’t quite come off. Unless you’re an avid horse fan, I can’t
recommend this book.
I received this book
from First to Read for this review.
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