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ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I've always thought Brooks' true talent is taking a true subject that you've had no interest in before and making a novel about it so thoroughly engrossing that you want to find out more! That, and of course her superb writing!
Set in contemporary times and during the 19th century - before, during and after the American Civil War - the two strands are connected at first by the magnificent and unbeatable stallion Lexington, who not only broke course records, but also sired more winners than any other before or since. In the modern story, Jess is an Australian preparator working in her dream job at the Smithsonian who is given the job of resetting the skeleton of a horse, which turns out to be Lexington. She meets a mixed-race fine art student Theo, working on his thesis about the Black horsemen of the era. In the older story, Jarrett is an outstanding handler and trainer of racehorses, but as a slave he has no control over his own life. The relationship he has with a bright bay colt will change both their destinies, and reach forward into the lives of Jess and Theo… Plenty of narrative voices, but as they are delineated at the start of each chapter, it is effortless following all the stories and the woven themes. At times deeply emotional, but always a fine and thought-provoking read! Lindy
Australian-born Geraldine Brooks is an author and journalist who grew up in Sydney's western suburbs. In 1982 she won a scholarship to the journalism master's program at Columbia University in New York. Later she worked for the WALL STREET JOURNAL, where she covered crises in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. In 2006 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for her novel MARCH. Her novels CALEB'S CROSSING and PEOPLE OF THE BOOK were both NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers, and YEAR OF WONDERS, PEOPLE OF THE BOOK and THE SECRET CHORD are international bestsellers, translated into more than 25 languages. She is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction works NINE PARTS OF DESIRE and FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. In 2011 she presented Australia's prestigious Boyer Lectures, later published as THE IDEA OF HOME. In 2016 she was appointed Officer in the Order of Australia for her services to literature. Geraldine Brooks divides her time between Sydney and Massachusetts and has two sons.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I've always thought Brooks' true talent is taking a true subject that you've had no interest in before and making a novel about it so thoroughly engrossing that you want to find out more! That, and of course her superb writing!
Set in contemporary times and during the 19th century - before, during and after the American Civil War - the two strands are connected at first by the magnificent and unbeatable stallion Lexington, who not only broke course records, but also sired more winners than any other before or since. In the modern story, Jess is an Australian preparator working in her dream job at the Smithsonian who is given the job of resetting the skeleton of a horse, which turns out to be Lexington. She meets a mixed-race fine art student Theo, working on his thesis about the Black horsemen of the era. In the older story, Jarrett is an outstanding handler and trainer of racehorses, but as a slave he has no control over his own life. The relationship he has with a bright bay colt will change both their destinies, and reach forward into the lives of Jess and Theo… Plenty of narrative voices, but as they are delineated at the start of each chapter, it is effortless following all the stories and the woven themes. At times deeply emotional, but always a fine and thought-provoking read! Lindy
