The Horse Dancer

By: Jojo Moyes

Narrated by: Julia Franklin

Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Sarah's grandfather was a horseman of rare talent - only the exceptional are allowed into France's elite riding academy, Le Cadre Noir. But life took an unexpected turn, and now from a council estate in east London, the Captain hopes to train his granddaughter towards a better life.

Natasha is a lawyer whose job is to represent the best interests of children. Her confidence in her judgement has been shaken and her marriage has died - but an encounter with Sarah may lead to Natasha learning all she needs to know about life from a fourteen-year-old girl and a large horse named Boo...

©2009 Jojo Moyes (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

I am in tears again

Another compelling story by JoJo Moyes. I discovered her a few weeks ago and have now listened to 5 books. This is a wonderful story about love, pain, commitment, fear and family. Again , I was sucked in and could not put it down.

Terrific Read

I liked everything about this book. I read the criticism about it being slow to start but I disagree. I thought that the pacing was right and very compelling.

I could not stop listening to this book!

It's been a while since I listened to an audiobook that drew me in so much that I could not 'put it down' and looked for excuses to keep listening. I am a horse lover and so appreciated the details about the horse and the challenging movements that are part of classical dressage. The narrator really made the story come alive, and I felt like I was right in the middle of the story. It seemed to start off a little slowly but didn't take long before I was hooked. Now that I've finished the book, I'm facing the challenge of finding my next 'listen' that can be equally captivating as was this book!

Loved this book!

What did you love best about The Horse Dancer?

The relationship between Sarah and her beloved horse touched my heart. I am a horse lover and a horse owner and understand the lengths this sad child went through to protect him. The description of the training was so precise and yet understandable to the non- horse person. I love that people who do not spend their days with horses can come to understand even a tiny bit of what goes into true horsemanship.

Lovely!

Lovely story, lovely read. I really enjoyed this book. I'm sorry that it is finished.

A journey towards love and communication

A great book that describes the complexity of human relationships, miscommunication, the challenge of being authentic and live our deepest dreams and a horse that creates the glue for all the different elements with elegance, presence and defying gravity.
I discovered that classical riding is very close to the horse whisperer technics thanks to the quotations of xenophone and the story about the "Cadre de Saumur" - amazing.
I was totally charmed and could not stop listening.

Total enjoyment

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Listened to it all in one day. I guess I'm not as particular as other reviewers as I enjoyed the narrator and wasn't bothered by accents. The author painted a very visual picture of all the characters including the horse. As I am a horse lover and love the art of dressage, I enjoyed the emphasis on the quotes from Xenophon. The were an integral part of the book. Also loved the emphasis on photography and the descriptions of the important photos throughout the book. The twists and turns had just the right amount of frustration and resolution. Loved the ending and epilogue!

Surprisingly good horse story

I was expecting only an interesting historical romance and was shocked by the depth of subject matter in this book and the genuinely knowledgeable discussion of classical dressage. The horse isn't a major character in his own right as he might be in a marketed "horse story," he's more of a set piece or environmental element, but the horsemanship is accurate and there are some brilliant discussions about the relation between rider and horse that brought tears to my eyes as an lifelong horsewoman. The narration was excellent with great French accents and the writing moved me deeply. There are a couple places I felt the book could have been improved by the author better explaining why her characters are making seemingly stupid moves but those are at least clarified in the end and overall I felt the book was excellent. Well worth the download!

Not Nearly as Good as You Before Me

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Maybe. I enjoyed it eventually but after reading JoJo Moyes' You Before Me, I had high expectations. This story was frustrating and a bit unrealistic. But by the end, I was hooked.

Healing with Horses

This novel reaches much further and deeper then a typical girl and her horse story. The author skillfully creates a story about struggle and loss. Each character quickly becomes someone you either don't like or someone you find yourself rooting on. Issues of pain and hope carry the story along keeping you wondering what might happen next. It was never predictable and it held my interest all the way to the last page. For the horse lover, there is a coming of age.story with a horseback journey through England and France that is so well written that I found myself rereading several phrases just to enjoy the the way the author would paint a picture or describe a moment. Ultimately I found this story to be about the fragile attachments we have as people stemming back into generations and how no matter how old we are that if we are honest with ourselves we can find the hope to heal
I will definitely be reading more of JoJo's books and I highly recommend "The Horse Dancer" to anyone looking for a great read. I also listened to the audio book and the narrator is spot on excellent. A perfect performance for the telling of this story