Horse by Geraldine Brooks

 I had read many reviews of the books of this author, but hadn't read any. When I read the cover notes of this one, in the one dollar shelf at the Santa Clara Library, I was intrigued. 

I'm so glad I took a chance on this one. It was SO GOOD and SO ENGAGING! I'm excited to read more from this author. She is an excellent writer and developer of interesting characters. She uses vocabulary that I need to look up. She obviously understands her subjects of race horses and art and anatomy. It is stunning the amount of research that must have gone into this story.

But beyond that, it's a very telling story of racism, both pre-Civil War and in our day. The parallels are thoughtfully and authentically brought out... The thinking and perspective of a young slave is illustrative of what must have been going on in many young slaves' minds. And the difficult racist issues that surface in the modern parts of the story are revealing and sensitively handled. So impressive! It mirrors much of my own limited understanding of today's issues regarding race. They are still thorny and we are still enslaved by our thinking and our prejudice. 

The story of Jarret and his love for his horse, Lexington, is compelling, too. The way they respond to each other is wonderful to behold. I know there is special connections between some horses and some people, and it was lovely to see how that devotion played out. I loved both Jarret and the horse so much that I would sometimes tense up when it looked like there was going to be danger for either one of them or both... I just didn't want anything bad to happen to either one! I mean really tense.

I also enjoyed the character of the artist who painted the portraits of Lexington, and how he moved in and out of the story. Actually, the way all of the characters and the paintings were interwoven in the story was beautifully and masterfully done. Just a treasure of a story!

The tragic ending of the art student in D.C. was jarring, but a painful reminder that racism is alive and still very sick in this country. There is an allusion to the current Trump administration and its tacit encouragement of racism that would anger any Trump supporter, but I felt it was RIGHT ON. 

I'm excited to read more from this author!