The Hearts of Horses

A Novel

By: Molly Gloss

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In the winter of 1917, a big-boned young woman shows up at George Bliss's doorstep. She's looking for a job breaking horses, and he hires her on. Many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, and he glimpses, beneath her showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong-willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses.

So begins the irresistible tale of 19-year-old Martha Lessen, a female horse whisperer trying to make a go of it in a man's world. It was thought that the only way to break a horse was to buck the wild out of it, and broken ribs and tough falls just went with the job. But over several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk in this remote county of eastern Oregon witness Martha's way of talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair---and getting miraculous, almost immediate results---and she thereby earns a place of respect in the community.

Along the way, Martha helps a family save their horses when their wagon slides into a ravine. She gentles a horse for a dying man---a last gift to his young son. She clashes with a hired hand who is abusing horses in unspeakable ways. Soon, despite her best efforts to remain aloof and detached, she comes to feel enveloped by a sense of community and family that she's never had before.

With the elegant sweetness of Plainsong and a pitch-perfect sense of western life reminiscent of Annie Dillard, The Hearts of Horses is a remarkable story about how people and animals make connections and touch each other's lives in the most unexpected and profound ways.

©2007 Molly Gloss (P)2009 Tantor

Emotional and Historical, wonderfully crafted Story

I was instantly hooked on this audio book, and I loved how fully fleshed out the characters were. I felt like I knew them, and felt pain with their pain, and yep, I certainly cried over some of that pain. I came to love and admire many of the characters, and the horses in Martha’s care as well.

I love how this was a glimpse into the past that progressed into the future of these characters during a difficult time in world history, then beyond. My grandfather would have been the same age as the main character, Martha, and went to France to fight in World War I, so I got a sense of what life was like for him growing up on a farm, in his case Southern Idaho, then going off to war. I love historical fiction, and this is among the best books of historical fiction I have lucky enough to listen to. I look forward to reading or listening to more books by Molly Gloss in the future.

Loved everything about this!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is the story of a young woman trying to find herself in the world, but it is also the story of America finding itself in the world. The lives of the people portrayed essentially ARE the lives of us all, told from a compassionate and realistic point of view.

What does Renée Raudman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator managed the pacing in a way that I might not have. I tend to read very quickly, and hearing the story read so expertly placed the proper emphasis and weight to passages that I might have allowed to be swallowed up in the hurry to turn the page.

An utterly compelling slice of life

Any additional comments?

I found the summary misleading in that it suggests the central tale is about the breaking of horses. That storyline exists, yes, but it serves more as a backdrop to the story of a young woman's emergence into adulthood, than as the main theme.

Early on we learn a little of the hard life and humble expectations of Martha, a young woman who has a better understanding of her four legged friends than of the people around her. As Martha works to break a group of horses (with a gentleness she herself has never really known) the community into which she is drawn also gently nudges her to see beyond the narrow boundaries of her expectations for herself. As the horses blossom, so does Martha, in a quiet, undramatic and yet thoroughly compelling

Not to sappy and wonderfully written

Would recommend to any one. Keep up the great work. I will definitely be following you

Loved every minute of the book

Was taken back in time to a wonderful story of a young girl coming of age in a tough time in our country— terrific!

loved every minute.

this was such a heartwarming story. It's the old west when things were so different. You don't have to love horses to enjoy this book. An unexpected visitor stays around and turns out to be in all the right places at the right times. loved the book.

Disappointing content - not for youngsters

This book was going along great - a nice clean western story with good descriptions of the countryside and the horses that made you feel as if you were experiencing the things right along with the characters - even tears came when a local chicken farmer died of cancer .......but the book got disappointing at the end. There were only a handful of curse words - d*** - and mostly great content - but as the relationship between the girl and her soon to be husband advanced, so did the racey description of one of their kissing episodes - and in this chapter, there were several mentions of rubber condoms. And then after married, there was a description of their actions just before bedtime that could have just have well been left out too. I thought this was going to be a great book for my kids to listen to, but I am glad I listended through to the end - as it is not something that I would want them to experience in an audio book / at their age......it even left me feeling uncomfortable and wanting to fast forward past those parts. Too many great books are ruined by getting too descriptive........and really, it did not add anything to the story - but took away from it. Some portions of life are not meant to be talked about publicly - and if you are reading an old west book, you would just think that the more modest portions of life could be kept private. The imagination is all that is needed to fill in any blanks - and often things have more impact if they are suggested than if they are completely described. I purchased this book based on other folks reviews - but no one else had mentioned these portions of the book, and I just thought there are probably others out there that would appreciate knowing this information before they purchased. If this content had been ommitted (and it easily could have) I would have given this book a much higher rating.

Disappointed

From the title of this book I had thought there would be much more story line having to do with the horses. It's mostly about Martha, her life and the people she meets while training horses. I had hoped for the former so I was disappointed.

Disappointing and poorly written

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't normally write reviews for books I don't care for but this one had so many positive reviews that I felt it necessary to add my opinion.
First, the author writes the book from the perspective of almost every character in the book, which is not necessarily bad, but she often switches from one person to another in mid sentence. This is annoying and very hard to follow. She also has a tendancy to be talking about an event or thought that is currently taking place and then goes on to explain stuff that WILL happen in the future and then add "but she didn't think of that now" or "but that wouldn't happen for years". If it didn't happen or wasn't thought of, don't bring it up. It's distracting from the story.
As for the story, I was excited to read a "Horse Whisperer" style novel with a female as the main character however she isn't really the main character and the story is pretty much pointless and doesn't really have anything to do with the horses. A story should have a beginning middle and end. The beginning of this book brings the young girl to a ranch and gets her hired on to break some horses. At this point characters should be developing so that we begin to understand who they are and why they do what they do. The author falls short on this. You get a vague sense of who each of them are but nothing more.
The middle is just a long rambling of events, none of which REALLY matter. Even the romance between the girl and guy is underwhelming and you keep expecting something to happen but it never does. In fact NOTHING really happens. People die and bones are broken but none of them are written as the main pivot point of the story.
The end is just a rushed wrap up as if the author got just as bored writing it as I got reading it.
The last complaint I have is the narrator. She was horrible. The book was read as if to a class full of school kids. The performance was overly dramatic and at times I stopped paying attention to the words because her performance was annoying me to the point of distraction. I will avoid listening to books read by her from now on.

What was most disappointing about Molly Gloss’s story?

Poorly written, poor story development, poor character development

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Renée Raudman?

Anyone

What character would you cut from The Hearts of Horses?

Any of them could have been cut. Not one character was developed enough to be pivotal to the non existent story line.

Slow Ride

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story needed to set the hook faster...creating intrigue, wonder and the I can't quit listening button!

Has The Hearts of Horses turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not necessarily....just needs to have a story woven within that causes the mind to wonder instead of wander!

Would you be willing to try another one of Renée Raudman’s performances?

Probably

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Hearts of Horses?

I didn't really read that far into the book to describe 'what I would do'...just found it uninteresting and slow.

Any additional comments?

I grew up riding all of my life til age 25....for me, having the experience of working with, riding for pleasure and training for show....this novel wasn't there. Perhaps for someone with little or no experience in the horse world, maybe a good read. Not for me though.