This book has a lot to offer for readers of romance novels. There is Depression Era coming of age, World War II romance, horses, and contemporary romance. I have many friends who would enjoy this book. Elizabeth Musser has written a deeply contemplative novel that tells two stories--the story of Barbara Dale Butler growing up through the Depression and her love of horses. There is a story of Allie Masset, Dale's granddaughter who has inherited Dale's horse ranch/riding stable.
Elizabeth has used the dual time aspect of the novel in the most cohesive way possible. Allie is trying to learn about her grandmother's life while at the same time trying to save her grandmother's legacy. All her grandmother's life, the family homestead has been the target of unscrupulous relatives, and Allie is finding out that Nana Dale had sold it to one of those relatives who wants to take the ten acres and make a housing development, but a letter from Nana Dale gives hints to Allie that there may be a way to save the homestead. This becomes Allie's obsession to the detriment of her relationship with Austin, her once fiancé.
I learned a lot of things about horses, riding, the Sand Pounders of the Coast Guard, and about my own faith. Elizabeth is not shy about showing how much faith sustains us in the hardest of times and that gave me a mental boost while I read the book.
One of the things I learned about horses is that flea-bitten is not a pejorative, but a designation of color. It is a primarily white or grey horse with darker spots all over the body of the horse.
This is not a story to rush through, but to read in increments, slowly digesting the tidbits and nuggets of truth woven into the fabric of the narrative. It is a five-star book, with two thumbs up, and an equine therapy center.
Bethany House Publishing provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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