I saw my first horse before I could walk or talk – a humble mare with flies in her eyes and a feed basket tied to her nose. I was drawn to her with a magnetic force, and that attraction to horses never diminished. Over the years I’ve presided over their birth, raised them, and conditioned them to various disciplines. When it exists, the bond between horse and human is undeniable. In my novels—through family disfunction, hardship, adventure, and mystery – I explore how this connection gives young people confidence and the courage to overcome any obstacles.
Horse Heavenbrims with engaging characters who inhabit the world of thoroughbred racing, both animal and human, and will break your heart and make you laugh out loud. Jane Smiley folds her humor and astute knowledge of horses into an immensely readable adventure that travels to racetracks around the globe and brings you along for the ride. It was pitch-perfect and delightful, and my only regret was that the story eventually had to end.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
"A WISE, SPIRITED NOVEL . . . [IN WHICH] SMILEY PLUMBS THE WONDROUSLY STRANGE WORLD OF HORSE RACING." --People
"ONE OF THE PREMIER NOVELISTS OF HER GENERATION, possessed of a mastery of craft and an uncompromising vision that grow more powerful with each book . . . Racing's eclectic mix of classes and personalities provides Smiley with fertile soil . . . Expertly juggling storylines, she investigates the sexual, social, psychological, and spiritual problems of wealthy owners, working-class bettors, trainers on the edge of financial ruin, and, in a typically bold…
Jaimy Gordon has written a beautiful, unforgettable novel that takes place at a run-down racecourse in West Virginia, where a has-been trainer forms a get-rich-quick plan with used-up racehorses. The story of Lord of Misrule, the legendary stakes winner, brings us into the heart of it, where everybody’s searching for something, everything has a price and what’s truly valuable is right in front of your nose.
Longlisted for the Orange Prize 2012. He planned to steal with these horses, who were all better than they looked on paper. The trick was to get in and get out fast. But could he really pull it off? Could he be that sure, could he count on being that lucky? Listen carefully my dear. Lord of Misrule, he whispered loudly. Lord of Misrule, Margaret. Memorize that name.
Separating the true stories from the myths, The Duty of Memory provides a deeper understanding of the diverse motivations that drove ordinary people to join an underground network of French Resistants despite terrible odds and horrifying consequences.
This book takes the reader inside the true story of men and women…
Seabiscuit was arguably one of the finest horses ever to race and he became a true American legend. As you read this remarkable book, you’ll grow to love this horse and admire his talent and spirit. I couldn’t put it down. Laura Hillenbrand goes deep into the facts of how his story unfolded and fully describes the people who believed in him right to the end. It will touch your heart.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend.
Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes:
Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to…
The Horse Whisperer is a stirring novel about pain and redemption, and the healing power of horses. A young girl and her horse are hit by an out-of-control truck on a snowy road. The girl’s mother believes that the key to unlocking her daughter’s desperation lies in curing her horse, which motivates their journey across the country to the man who she hopes will help. It’s a must-read.
The phenomenal number one bestseller, which sold over twenty million copies and was made into a classic film starring Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson. This stunning 25th anniversary edition features exclusive new content from Nicholas Evans.
'A love story, a gripping adventure and an emotionally charged tale of redemption and human strength' Cosmopolitan
'Brilliance pervades this five-handkerchief weepie' The Times
'Wild horses couldn't drag me from this . . . a tear-jerking page-turner' Daily Mail
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When Grace Maclean and her beloved horse, Pilgrim, are hit by a truck one snow-covered morning, their destinies become inextricably bound to one another.…
NORVEL: An American Hero chronicles the remarkable life of Norvel Lee, a civil rights pioneer and Olympic athlete who challenged segregation in 1948 Virginia. Born in the Blue Ridge Mountains to working-class parents who valued education, Lee overcame Jim Crow laws and a speech impediment to achieve extraordinary success.
I’ve always enjoyed Dick Francis’s hair-raising novels about steeplechase racing, crime, and intrigue, and it was difficult to choose only one. His inside knowledge of the sport and his connection with horses makes all his novels authentic and informative. Break Infeatures the jockey Kit Fielding, who comes to the aid of his twin sister, Holly, when her racing stable owner husband is slandered by the newspapers. Kit has a telepathic relationship with his sister, which adds to the mystique of this fast-paced adventure.
A thriller in which a champion steeplechaser puts himself into a perilous situation when a smear campaign in the gutter press threatens to ruin his twin sister's life.
Estranged from her classmates and unwanted at home, Evangeline Gibb feels alone in the world except for No Justice, a talented but difficult racehorse. All her life she’s believed that her mother is dead, but on her sixteenth birthday, a message from her Aunt turns her world upside down. To win enough money to find her mother and leave her father for good, Evie secretly enters No Justice in the Caledon Horse Race under the alias, Kazzam.
With help from Aunt Mary and a stray dog named Magpie, Evie unearths long-hidden family secrets, enters the underground world of drug addiction, defies her father, finds unexpected love, and takes the racing world by storm with single-minded determination.
In 1929, a dark secret at the heart of a Hungarian farming village was finally exposed. For more than 15 years, Nagyrev had harbored a group of serial killers, one of the largest murder rings ever recorded. They came to be known…
The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by…
