Horse

A Novel

De: Geraldine Brooks

Narrado por: James Fouhey, Lisa Flanagan, Graham Halstead, Katherine Littrell, Michael Obiora

“Brooks’ chronological and cross-disciplinary leaps are thrilling.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Horse isn’t just an animal story—it’s a moving narrative about race and art.” —TIME
“A thrilling story about humanity in all its ugliness and beauty . . . the evocative voices create a story so powerful, reading it feels like watching a neck-and-neck horse race, galloping to its conclusion—you just can’t look away.” —Oprah Daily

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award · Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize · A Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book

A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack.

New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.

Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.

Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

Remarkable tale of a little known racehorse

Interesting topic I knew little about, thoroughbred racing in the 1800s. Story blended historical info about the beginnings of the sport with southern culture and the political climate of that era. Story included a touching bond between the famous racehorse and the young boy who cared for him as well as descriptions of the harshness enslaved Blacks experienced on southern farms in that post civil war era. Depictions of races were exciting, vivid, as was much of the scenery in the countryside and the towns they toured. The current day side story was also informative. I would have given the book 5 stars but in the last chapter or so the author threw in a gratuitous plot “twist” to make a political statement which seemed very unnecessary. Detracted more than it engendered any insight.

Maybe my favorite author

Geraldine doesn’t disappoint ! What a piece of historical fiction spanning 2 centuries & as relevant now as then . The characters will captivate you & narration bring u to many tears . Thoroughly enjoyed & sharing with my reading family & friends .

A wide sweep novel about much more than a Horse

Geraldine Brookesa' writing never is a disappointment. Her topics are diverse and extensively researched, her characters in the novel are both real people who existed at the time they are portrayed, or imagined and inspired by other real people of an amalgam of people. Like many novels these days, the story crosses times and characters, keeping readers on their toes. It offers so many topics for good discussions, both contemporary and historical. Other than Lexington, the HORSE, my favorite character is Jerret.

There are times to celebrate and times to cry.m, as well as times to exercise "hindsight". I recommend this book for book clubs, horse lovers, people interested in the history of American horse racing, readers seeking a quality read (listening, too), and those who love Geraldine Brookes.

The BEST

Has to be hands down one of the best books I have listened to EVER!!!

Unique and beautiful.

The book “Horse” covers 170 years of American history. It is about horses, particularly the famous racehorse, Lexington. It is about race, from antebellum Kentucky to the present day. The horse racing story begins in 1850, just before the Civil War when an enslave groom, Jarret, and a bay foal form a bond like no other. Each will do whatever it takes to care for and protect the other. Together they set records on the track. They are even painted together by a young artist who recognizes their bond. Throughout their stories, issues of slavery and racism arise. “It was impossible not to find in this picture an equivalence between the men and the horse: valued, no doubt, but living by the will of their enslaver, submitting to the whip.”

In 2019 Theo, a PhD candidate as an art historian at Georgetown University picks up a discarded painting of a horse amid a pile of junk on the curb. Theo, is Nigerian-American. He is continually surprised and angered by the reaction of others to his race - even by the woman who had discarded the junk and rushes into her apartment when she sees him acting afraid, although they’ve been neighbors for over a year.

Theo takes the painting to the Smithsonian to learn its history. There he meets Jess, an Australian scientist in the osteology lab. Jess, is enamored with the painting for the horse's fine bone structure, Theo for the history of anonymous Black horseman.

A beautiful story of the most famous horse in racehorse history and about the (mostly enslaved) men who provide the breeding, training and caring of horses. Most of the details regarding Lexington’s career and stud sire are true. The actual skeleton languished many years in a Smithsonian attic before finally being sent to the International Museum of the Horse in 2010 where it is still on display. Like Brooks' other novels, Horse is as irresistible as it is unique. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️