A review by rachelwastaken
Horse by Geraldine Brooks

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book is about so much more than a racehorse - it's also about race.

Horse is written from several points of view and I'm not sure this story would have been as relatable without the competing timelines. Meticulously researched and based heavily on the lives of real people - Horse is a novel that is going to stay with me for a long time.

I loved reading about Lexington and his groom, Jarret. The connection the two shared brought back many memories of my childhood, also spend in the company of horses.
The way Brooks weaved these timelines together was masterful and left me wanting more. It's almost unbelievable that one of America's greatest racehorses was simply forgotten and left to gather dust in the attic of the Smithsonian, and I am delighted to think that this book will inspire a resurgence of love for this amazing animal. It's difficult not to question how this story would have been written had it not been for the civil war and it saddened me to be confronted with the realities of our current outlook on race over a century later.
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