Post by Claire on Nov 22, 2011 14:10:49 GMT 1
THE HORSE DANCER by JOJO MOYES
SUMMARY:
14 year old Sarah is the grand-daughter of Henri Lapachelle, once one of the riders at the elite French Le Cadre Noir academy, performing haute ecole on the highly trained Selle Français horses. However, Henri gave up the life to marry the woman he loved. Now his wife and daughter are gone and it’s just him and Sarah, whom he hopes will follow in his footsteps and eventually become a rider at the academy. The pair are training their horse Boo who lives in a stable in the middle of metropolitan London. However when Henri suffers a stroke Sarah becomes involved with Natasha, a children’s rights lawyer and her soon to be ex-husband Mac who reluctantly agree to foster her. But problems arise when an unscrupulous new owner takes over the stables and turns Sarah’s world even more upside down. Feeling she has no-one to turn to she runs off with her beloved horse.
REVIEW:
This is an excellent very well-written story which couples the story of Sarah and her horse with the emotional problems of Natasha and Mac. It manages to seamlessly weave a story appealing to horselovers into a tale which people who have no idea which end of the horse is which will also enjoy. This sounds an easy task, but to someone like me who has read many so called adult horse stories which only had the mere whisper of an equine backdrop to justify the label, (just in case too large a dose scared off the general reading public!) it is no mean feat. Although it is not as immersed in the equine side of things as say Bluegrass by Borden Deal or Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen, the horse element is nevertheless very important and is in fact the pivot of the entire plot. There is also plenty of horse detail such as the history of Le Cadre Noir, a French riding academy similar to the more well-known Spanish Rising School, which I knew little about before reading the book. The haute ecole backdrop is interesting and unusual.
I also like the way that the French way of training horses, with its slow, gentle, meticulous approach is contrasted with the English attitude to horses. The beautiful and controlled dressage of Sarah and Boo is contrasted to the illegal trotting races run by the gangsters and gypsies in which the horses are pushed to their limits by force rather than empathy. When Henri first arrives in England he is also shocked by the rough and ready approach to horses, whose training seems to be based around the hunting world. All this is in direct contrast to a lot of the old traditional pony books where the French and Belgiums were always the villains, ready to tuck into the tender horseflesh shipped over there – unless of course the unfortunate horses were rescued by the plucky young British heroes and heroines! Interestingly, Josephine Pullein-Thompson was one of the first of the pony book writers to question that British methods were best and expounded many of the continental methods of riding in her books, especially the 'Pony Club' series. In The Radney Riding Club for example, she contrasts the French expert General de Veriac, with the hopeless hearty hunting type who previously attempted to instruct the children. And she was a staunch supporter of the forward seat for jumping and the continental seat for cross country.
Not only does the book manage to combine a horse story and a more mainstream plot, but it is almost as if it combines a teen horse novel and an adult novel in one. The horse side of the book is seen from the viewpoint of the teenage Sarah, whilst the adult characters Natasha and Mac dictate the plot of the other side of things. In this way, it’s as if the reader can enjoy both sorts of book at once, rather than alternating between the two. Of course the equine and non-equine elements do meet occaisionally, when the adults glimpse the magic of Sarah’s horse-centred world. It must be said however, that while Mac and Natasha are interesting characters and you do get involved with their problems , the stand-out parts of the book involve the horse side of things. The bond between rider and horse is emphasised and that sometimes almost magical connection is depicted in some very lyrical, emotional writing. In particular the love that Sarah has for her horse is emphasised, especially when, in a heart-stopping scene, we see just what the young girl is prepared to do for her horse. This is a nice contrast to the many modern horse stories in which the horse is just a vehicle the rider needs in order to to win prizes and acclaim.
The book is fairly long and it does drift a bit in the middle. I think some of this part could have been cut and perhaps replaced with more of Henri’s early life at the academy, which I really would have liked to have read more about. However the plot picks up nicely when the yard is taken over by the villain Maltese Sam, a clichéd but still satisfyingly nasty villain, and Sarah finds her life plummeting into desperation.
All in all this is a very readable book which will both interest the reader and engage their emotions. And it has enough horsy content and adult themes to satisfy the most demanding adult ponymad booklover. I would award the book 4-5 horseshoes.
SUMMARY:
14 year old Sarah is the grand-daughter of Henri Lapachelle, once one of the riders at the elite French Le Cadre Noir academy, performing haute ecole on the highly trained Selle Français horses. However, Henri gave up the life to marry the woman he loved. Now his wife and daughter are gone and it’s just him and Sarah, whom he hopes will follow in his footsteps and eventually become a rider at the academy. The pair are training their horse Boo who lives in a stable in the middle of metropolitan London. However when Henri suffers a stroke Sarah becomes involved with Natasha, a children’s rights lawyer and her soon to be ex-husband Mac who reluctantly agree to foster her. But problems arise when an unscrupulous new owner takes over the stables and turns Sarah’s world even more upside down. Feeling she has no-one to turn to she runs off with her beloved horse.
REVIEW:
This is an excellent very well-written story which couples the story of Sarah and her horse with the emotional problems of Natasha and Mac. It manages to seamlessly weave a story appealing to horselovers into a tale which people who have no idea which end of the horse is which will also enjoy. This sounds an easy task, but to someone like me who has read many so called adult horse stories which only had the mere whisper of an equine backdrop to justify the label, (just in case too large a dose scared off the general reading public!) it is no mean feat. Although it is not as immersed in the equine side of things as say Bluegrass by Borden Deal or Riding Lessons by Sara Gruen, the horse element is nevertheless very important and is in fact the pivot of the entire plot. There is also plenty of horse detail such as the history of Le Cadre Noir, a French riding academy similar to the more well-known Spanish Rising School, which I knew little about before reading the book. The haute ecole backdrop is interesting and unusual.
I also like the way that the French way of training horses, with its slow, gentle, meticulous approach is contrasted with the English attitude to horses. The beautiful and controlled dressage of Sarah and Boo is contrasted to the illegal trotting races run by the gangsters and gypsies in which the horses are pushed to their limits by force rather than empathy. When Henri first arrives in England he is also shocked by the rough and ready approach to horses, whose training seems to be based around the hunting world. All this is in direct contrast to a lot of the old traditional pony books where the French and Belgiums were always the villains, ready to tuck into the tender horseflesh shipped over there – unless of course the unfortunate horses were rescued by the plucky young British heroes and heroines! Interestingly, Josephine Pullein-Thompson was one of the first of the pony book writers to question that British methods were best and expounded many of the continental methods of riding in her books, especially the 'Pony Club' series. In The Radney Riding Club for example, she contrasts the French expert General de Veriac, with the hopeless hearty hunting type who previously attempted to instruct the children. And she was a staunch supporter of the forward seat for jumping and the continental seat for cross country.
Not only does the book manage to combine a horse story and a more mainstream plot, but it is almost as if it combines a teen horse novel and an adult novel in one. The horse side of the book is seen from the viewpoint of the teenage Sarah, whilst the adult characters Natasha and Mac dictate the plot of the other side of things. In this way, it’s as if the reader can enjoy both sorts of book at once, rather than alternating between the two. Of course the equine and non-equine elements do meet occaisionally, when the adults glimpse the magic of Sarah’s horse-centred world. It must be said however, that while Mac and Natasha are interesting characters and you do get involved with their problems , the stand-out parts of the book involve the horse side of things. The bond between rider and horse is emphasised and that sometimes almost magical connection is depicted in some very lyrical, emotional writing. In particular the love that Sarah has for her horse is emphasised, especially when, in a heart-stopping scene, we see just what the young girl is prepared to do for her horse. This is a nice contrast to the many modern horse stories in which the horse is just a vehicle the rider needs in order to to win prizes and acclaim.
The book is fairly long and it does drift a bit in the middle. I think some of this part could have been cut and perhaps replaced with more of Henri’s early life at the academy, which I really would have liked to have read more about. However the plot picks up nicely when the yard is taken over by the villain Maltese Sam, a clichéd but still satisfyingly nasty villain, and Sarah finds her life plummeting into desperation.
All in all this is a very readable book which will both interest the reader and engage their emotions. And it has enough horsy content and adult themes to satisfy the most demanding adult ponymad booklover. I would award the book 4-5 horseshoes.