The greatest race horse surges across the pages of this superb novel
A generalist is a “person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not.” I confess this reviewer to be such a person — fits me to a T.
One subject upon which I was poorly informed was my knowledge about horses. I knew almost nothing. In an attempt to address this defect, I just read “Horse,” the new novel by Geraldine Brooks. After reading it, I still feel like I don’t know that much, but I know a lot more about horses than I did before.
Brooks has woven the true story of the greatest racehorse of the 19th century, a steed named Lexington, into a tale that explores the immensely popular horse racing culture of that period and the underlying racial themes that existed then and have carried over into our present day.
The novel shifts back and forth through time. We meet an enslaved Black youth named Jarret who during the 1850s witnessed the birth in Kentucky of the colt who would become the greatest racing champion of that era. Jarret became that horse’s constant companion.
Jarret’s father, Harry, was a horse trainer who had been successfully producing champions for his employer, Dr. Elisha Warfield. Warfield’s gratitude for Harry’s services eventually led to Harry’s emancipation. Harry’s enslavement ended, but his son, Jarret, remained the doctor’s property.
Harry had ambition. He made an arrangement with Warfield to have this young horse, initially known as Darley, get trained by Jarret. Harry became Darley’s secret owner. Any winnings Darley might earn on the racetrack would be divided between Harry and the doctor.
This subterfuge was crucial because at that time, a Black man south of the Mason-dixon line could not legally enter a horse in a race. Harry planned to win a lot of races with Darley, and he hoped to parlay some of those purses into enough money to buy his son’s freedom.
Best-laid plans, right? The action keeps shifting from Jarret in the pre-civil War south to Washington, D.C., during our current times where two characters are destined to meet and fall in love. Jess is a researcher who ends up rediscovering the skeleton of Lexington that has been misplaced in a storage area. Theo is a writer who finds an old painting of a race horse that had been tossed into the trash.
“Horse” is filled with horse races. Jarret keeps fighting to protect the horse he loves from being abused by unscrupulous parties who are hoping to reap big profits from Lexington while showing no regard for the horse’s well-being.
Racial themes pervade the book. Jarret endures one indignity after another as he gets sold down South. During our current time, Theo, a Black man, is subjected to racial discrimination. Even his initial encounter with Jess, his future lover, was marred by racial overtones.
Geraldine Brooks won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Lifetime Achievement. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “March.” I predict “Horse” will garner her even further acclaim.