Maria's Pick: "Horse" by Geraldine Brooks

I have always loved Geraldine Brooks' historical fiction so I was very excited to to grab her latest work, Horse. It was well worth the wait.

Spanning three different time periods, the stories revolve around a record breaking racehorse named Lexington, who lived in the mid 1800’s in Kentucky. He is cared for by a dedicated enslaved groom named Jaret, whose life we follow through slavery and the Civil War.

A 1950’s New York gallery owner is fascinated with a 19th century oil painting of the horse brought to her by a desperate young black woman who had no idea of its value.

In 2019, a Smithsonian scientist and a Nigerian art historian are brought together by their individual discoveries of the skeleton of this racehorse and a discarded painting that was found at a neighbors’ garage sale.

So well written, so well researched - I highly recommend this book even if, like me, you don’t think you care much about horse racing. The story is about racing, race, and so much more.

Buy the book!

Buy the audiobook!