From the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, a novel about a lost girl and her horse, the enduring strength of friendship, and how even the smallest choices can change everything When Sarah’s grandfather gives her a beautiful horse named Boo—hoping that one day she’ll follow in his footsteps to join an elite French riding school, away from their gritty London … their gritty London neighborhood—she quietly trains in city’s parks and alleys. But then her grandfather falls ill, and Sarah must juggle horsemanship with school and hospital visits.
Natasha, a young lawyer, is reeling after her failed marriage: her professional judgment is being questioned, her new boyfriend is a let-down, and she’s forced to share her house with her charismatic ex-husband. Yet when the willful fourteen-year-old Sarah lands in her path, Natasha decides to take the girl under her wing.
But Sarah is keeping a secret—a secret that will change the lives of everyone involved forever.
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The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes both captivated my imagination and my heart.The characters range from a teenager, Sarah (one of the main leads) and her horse Boo. Her grandfather, an old French cavalryman aka Papa trains Sarah on riding and life lessons. The secondary plot involves a couple. The husband Mac is a photographer. And the wife, Natasha, the other main character. This couple we find in the throes of a divorce. Natasha is an advocate for children and she starts out in the story as guarded, after getting burned when a boy she tries to help, lies to her.
The characters are all likable (lovable really) and the story compelling, more so with each e-page flipped. This reader was drawn deeper into the Sarah’s life once Papa is hospitalized and the young teenage girl must not only fend for her own needs but those of her horse. As her life spins out of control, the welfare of her horse stabled in East London, in a horse yard owned and run by Cowboy John, also hangs in the balance. BTW, Cowboy John is a captivating person, too. Such a colorful character, Cowboy John hails from America and is described as one of the last Black Philadelphia Cowboys.
Of course, delighted by Jojo Moyes’ eye for detail, I googled Philadelphia cowboys and was floored by the stories of young men who take to the streets on horseback, calling themselves Concrete Cowboys.If you’re looking for a story that will steal into your thoughts as you go through your day, and draw you back as soon as you have a spare moment, then give The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes a go!
The story is poignant, filled with compassion and forgiveness! When the world serves up lemons, this is just the perfect story to escape into, inhabited by kind generous people and animals.
Five-star-hearts for character development, story line, and opening a world where I learned about the Concrete Cowboys of Philly as well as Le Cadre Noir, Le Carrousel, the town of Saumur. It was like taking a holiday to London, Kent, Philly, and Saumur, France.
At times, this story disturbed me, made me cry, made me smile… and I loved every page of it! Again, Jojo Moyes has captured me with another great book. The only hard part is not wanting to read anything else that isn’t as wonderful. I highly recommend this book, and this author.
I fell into this beautiful, tender and original story from the very beginning. To me, it has everything. A 14 year-old girl suddenly on her own in the gritty neighborhoods of London, a lonely, hurting lawyer struggling with her choices and relationships, an enigmatic oil painting with a questionable provenance, a beloved horse… and gorgeous writing. What else do you need? Ah, how about a dramatic escape to fulfill a dream? Characters collide and part in this moving, complex tale of friendship, loss, secrets and honesty, and the consequences of the choices we make. But this is more than a story of escape. It’s about the power of love, and hope. And about running toward, not away.
4 Stars
Pulling on your heartstrings, a 14 year old is training to be a Horse Dancer under her grandfather’s tutelage. The granddad has a stroke and she is put into foster care where the future of her horse is put into jeopardy.
Jojo Moyes’ THE HORSE DANCER is a story about family, love, strength and determination, but most of all, a young girl’s guts and bravery. Fourteen-year-old Sarah Lachapelle and young lawyer Natasha Macauley find each other as they suffer through loss and love, and eventually discover that they need each other to fill a void in their lives.
Sarah lives with her grandfather, Papa, in a less desirable area of London. Having lost her mother at a young age and her grandmother four years prior to the start of the novel, Sarah lives a happy, quiet life with her Papa. Papa gives her a horse named Boo that they’ve been training in city parks and alleys. Papa, a once famous horseman with the prestigious and elite riding school Le Cadre Noir, received the highest honors as a young man. Now he’s training Sarah and Boo to achieve the same honors. Life is good until Papa becomes ill, and her life totally changes. Moyes does a great job describing her mother and grandmother’s lives and how their loss affects Sarah and Papa.
Natasha Macauley is an up-and-coming lawyer who works with children and their families. She and her photographer husband, Mac, tried to conceive several times, but she miscarried each time. The pain of not being able to conceive a child is unbearable for her. Instead of letting Mac in and communicating to him after the miscarriages, she turns away, and now their marriage is almost destroyed. They both commit adultery, and Mac moves out of their beautiful home for one year. He has now returned, and divorce is surely imminent.
Sarah needs to maintain going to school, visit Papa in the hospital and continue her training with Boo on her own now. She and Natasha meet in an unfavorable situation where Sarah is unable to pay for an item in a supermarket and is accused of shoplifting. Natasha comes to her aid, pays for the item and drives her home. When they arrive at the flat, they notice the door has been crowbarred, and the place has been burglarized. With no other relatives for Sarah to live with and the only other option being spending the night at the police station, Mac and Natasha offer for her to spend the night at their home and help figure things out with a social worker the next morning.
Natasha and Mac decide to take on joint responsibility for Sarah until Papa gets back on his feet. Since the two were trying to conceive for so long, Sarah almost fills the hole in their marriage. For Natasha, however, having a teenager in the house takes a bit of adjusting, while Mac warms up to her immediately. However, Sarah is hiding secrets and begins cutting classes trying to spend time with Boo and visit Papa in the hospital when she can. Natasha and Mac don’t even know Boo exists and cannot figure out why she is skipping school. That’s when Mac decides to follow her in his car after he drops her off from school one morning, and finds out where she’s going and what she’s doing. In the meantime, trouble brews where Boo is stabled, and money once again becomes the main issue.
As the trouble spirals out of control, Sarah makes a run for it with Boo, trying to get to Le Cadre Noir in France. She and Papa were discussing taking a vacation there before he fell ill, but the time is definitely ripe to make a break for it now. Using Natasha’s credit card, she somehow manages to make her way there with Boo. Obviously, Mac and Natasha are out of their minds when Sarah elusively goes missing, and they get in the car and follow her tracks by the credit card trail. Moyes created clear pictures in my mind wherever Sarah was riding Boo on their way to France. On the wet and rainy days, I could feel the damp and rawness.
THE HORSE DANCER is not a young adult novel, but Moyes still does a great job of creating a typical teenage character. Sarah tries desperately to do everything on her own without help, but she is just not mature enough. She is very headstrong and incredibly gusty. She thinks she can handle everything that is happening to her, but she needs adult supervision and boundaries. However, she is still very likable and as a reader, it is easy to see when she is trying her best to do the right thing. Moyes carefully balances her teenage nature with the depth of someone who is in over their head.
Although Mac and Natasha have their ups and downs with trying to figure out their mess of a marriage, the one thing that is binding them together is Sarah. They obviously still love each other, and through the bonds of their relationship and this young teenage girl who becomes part of their life, they somehow manage to put their marriage back together and become a family.
Jojo Moyes has another hit novel, and just like ME BEFORE YOU, this would definitely make another great movie. This story really pulls at you, especially when she makes the main character realize she has nothing left in the world but herself. Moyes brings it all together in the end by creating a happily ever after story that wraps up Sarah’s story with the ending she deserves. Moyes also took me on a journey in my mind where I saw such vivid scenes where I could picture Natasha and Mac’s lovely house, the alleys, the stables, the ferry rides and the countryside as Sarah travels to France. Even though I’ve only read ME BEFORE YOU and The HORSE DANCER, I can definitely say that Moyes certainly knows how to tug at your heart.
Excellent read. You won’t want to put it down.
Another JoJo Mayes book! She is such a great writer and I know every book I read of hers is going to be enjoyable.
I love horses and I absolutely adore Jojo Moyes. It has been a long time since I have read a book that centered around a girl and her love for her horse. I will admit that the first 50 pages or so (the prologue included) was very difficult as there were a lot of french terms used without a ready definition. Had I not see the Lippizaner Stallions from Vienna perform a few times, I am reasonably sure I would have been lost as to what was happening. However, after that first 50 pages a beautiful and heartbreaking story unfolds. After her grandfather has a stroke and is hospitalized Sarah is moved around from foster family to foster family. She is in trouble most of the time because of her fear to tell her foster family about her horse and she sneaks out or cuts school to take care of him. Then she almost falls into a horrible trap with the Maltese Sal character. It’s a bit far fetched in that the family she ends up living with is a husband and wife going through a divorce but happen to decide to live under the same roof to provide this pre-teen girl a home. It’s also far-fetched in her travels with her horse. However, with that said, it is still a beautiful story that is hard to put down. The characters come to life and you just keep reading, hoping for the best possible outcome for Sarah. It does get a little more difficult towards the end of the book when once again the French language is introduced and there are no subtitles but you are still able to follow what is going on. JoJo Moyes does not disappoint with this novel.
I always love a book that tells me something I didn’t know. Aka the stables and horse racing
Enjoy this author most of the time. This was not one of my favorites.
This was a bit disappointing and predictable.
An enjoyable read. Focus on the complexities of the foster care system and also elder care. Powerful, determined main character.
TOO, TOO WORDY, TOO MUCH INFO. NOT NEEDED FOR THE STORY, ESP. ABOUT GRANDPA HISTORY.
Drags
It’s been a long time since a book created so much heart involvement that it made me cry. I could hardly put it down. Lovely!
This became one of my all-time favorites! Stayed up late to finish. Could not put it down.
Love the author but found this one hard to get through
This is one of JoJo Moyes early books. It is written very well and kept my attention. The only problem I had with it was in some parts of the book the conversation between some characters was in French and I do not know enough French to understand what was said. Overall, a very good book.
Not my favorite jojo Moyes. Maybe because I’m not into horses, I found the riding and horse descriptions to be tedious. I quickly scanned through much of the book as the detail became boring to me. The story itself was interesting but could have been effectively told with less detail. I found the story to be interesting if somewhat improbable – not sure I buy into two adults being in the right place to foster an at risk child and save her. I’m over simplifying but I just couldn’t become totally immersed in the story