The Horseman

November 1, 2016

The lives of 12-year-old Leo Sercombe and his family in 1911 rural England revolve around agricultural labor on the estate of Lord Prideaux, and each season brings with it a lengthy list of necessary tasks. Though Leo is a keen observer of the natural world around him, his particular passion is for horses, and he longs for a career working with them. As he approaches manhood Leo takes a more active role in his community while negotiating the expectations of his family and forming a potentially dangerous friendship with the master's daughter. VERDICT The ninth novel by British author Pears (In the Place of Fallen Leaves; Landed) is a slow-paced and extremely detailed episodic look at a rural way of life about to disappear thanks to the relentless march of industrialization. Though this book is the first in a trilogy, the plot seems short on both conflict and suspense until its rather abrupt conclusion. However, readers who enjoy pastoral settings and who share the author's penchant for exploring the minutiae of life in the past may be delighted by this novel.--Mara Bandy, Champaign P.L., IL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2016
In the foreground of a reverent portrait of pre-World War I England, a talented boy's life is set in motion. Opening his ninth novel in 1911 on a Somerset estate, Pears (In the Light of Morning, 2015, etc.) unspools a panorama of rural existence from the perspective of the laboring classes. The Sercombe family works some of the land belonging to Lord Prideaux, aka "the master," following an age-old, effortful seasonal round which allots predictable roles to men, women, and animals. The blacksmith keeps the forge, the sawyer saws the trees, and Albert Sercombe, a carter, runs a stable of horses to plough and harvest. The perspective of 12-year-old son Leo, "another Sercombe with equine blood in his bones," shapes the narrative, as he skips school to spend time in the stables: attending the birth of a foal, getting his backside bitten when climbing into the saddle, and bringing his first colt to halter. Dramatic events are few in this lovingly detailed almanac of a tale, which devotes pages to the harnessing of horses, the reaping of crops, and the practicing of trades and crafts now lost to modern agriculture, along with their vocabulary ("zart," "strouters," "felloe"). Meanwhile, Leo has struck up an acquaintance with Miss Charlotte, the master's willful, horse-loving daughter, and also impressed her father with his instinctive riding ability. An inescapable sense of scene-setting underpins this first volume in a proposed trilogy, alongside a feel of familiarity as the shadow of war stretches toward this eternal landscape with its shooting parties, intuitive working folk, and noble beasts. "Things'll carry on one way or another. Naught for us to worry over," Albert assures his wife, yet the novel closes on a turning-point event and a great act of sundering. This leisurely curtain raiser, a gloriously devoted poem to England's past, springs to life in its final chapters.

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Starred review from December 1, 2016
Quietly powerful and a masterpiece of subtle metaphor, Pears' latest novel, first in a new series, takes readers back to 1911, just before the Great War, a time when the landed gentry both controlled and cared for a multitude of workers on huge estates and when children only occasionally moved outside the strictures of tradition and social caste. In Somerset, England, Leo Sercombe pushes those limits. His skill with horses and inquisitive fascination with nature (and Miss Charlotte) make him a curiosity, a boon, and a danger. After failing as a scholar, he hopes to work in the master's stables, and after proving he can train a colt, his future looks bright. While very little action occurs in this leisurely tale of countryside and farm, a sense of unease creeps into the story as estate life darkens. The novel is told in short vignettes that at first seem disjointed, but the larger picture paints itself in the reader's mind, bit by bit, until the final scene completes it. Gorgeous, evocative language and characters who feel drawn from the earth itself make this unforgettable gem similar to Molly Gloss' The Hearts of Horses (2007) and to Wendell Berry's homespun, reflective Port William novels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)