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The Hearts Of Horses
Current price:
$16.99
Publication Date: December 8th, 2008
Publisher:
Harper Perennial
ISBN:
9780547085753
Pages:
304
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days
Molly Gloss tells a heartwarming story of a young woman who earns her way as a 'horse gentler' on the eastern Oregon frontier during the early 1900s.
Spring/Summer '09 Reading Group List
Description
Award-winning author Molly Gloss' The Hearts of Horses is an elegant, heartwarming story about the profound connections between people and animals.
In the winter of 1917, nineteen-year-old Martha Lessen saddles her horses and heads for a remote county in eastern Oregon, looking for work “gentling” wild horses. She chances on a rancher, George Bliss, who is willing to hire her on. Many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, and he glimpses, beneath her showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong-willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses. So begins the irresistible tale of a young but determined woman trying to make a go of it in a man’s world.
Over the course of several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk witness Martha talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair — getting miraculous, almost immediate results. It's with this gift that she earns their respect, and a chance to make herself a home.
Praise for The Hearts Of Horses
"Gloss has ... a permanent place on the shelf of American literature [featuring] smart, independent women." — Kent Haruf, “Plainsong,” “Eventide”
"A shining example of Molly Gloss' gifts." -- Amy Bloom, "A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You"
"An acutely observed, often lyrical portrayal … has as much to say about people as about horses." Kirkus Reviews
[Gloss] brings the period during World War I vibrantly alive.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Gloss ignores boundaries instead of defying them ... her re-creation of a romantic past and its irrecoverable dreams feels solid.
Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer
"[An] affecting, timely novel that lays explicit emphasis on empathy as a yardstick of humanity." - San Francisco Chronicle
Not just a horse story or a tale of the West, Gloss's moving novel ... is a story not soon forgotten.
Bookpage
"Gloss's lyrical story follows the mesmerizing journey of 19-year-old Martha Lessen." - Hallmark Magazine
"A shining example of Molly Gloss's gifts." -- Amy Bloom ("Love Invents Us" and "Away")
"Molly Gloss has made herself a permanent place on the shelf of American literature." -- Kent Haruf ("Plainsong," "Eventide")
"The moving story of a ... strong-willed woman bucking society's norm to gently train horses without breaking their spirit." - Temple Grandin
"Gorgeous! Pitch-perfect ... utterly engaging ... deft." - Andrea Barrett (National Book Award winner "Ship Fever")
"Magnificent .. Molly Gloss has brilliantly recreated a bygone time and place." - Howard Frank Mosher ("On Kingdom Mountain")
"Truly, one of the best books you'll ever read." - Jane Kirkpatrick ("All Together in One Place") —
