Blind Beauty

What a wonderful story for all ages. As a 50+ horsewoman, I listened to this book during my commute last week. I laughed and cried and cheered as Tessa and her horse Buffoon overcame the odds in many of life's circumstances -- not just the riding challenge. This is truly a book to own (I do) and a story to cherish. My hat's off to the author.

This is the best horse book that I've ever read. It kept me hooked on till the end. It is a mixture of horses, hard lifes, and romance. This is a most read! Believe me. You'll wanna read it ova and ova. If you love horses, you'll love this book.

This book starts out with the main character, Tessa Blackthorn, being four years old in Ireland. Her father, Declan, bred his old mare Betty and she finally gave birth to a foal after three years of trying. The foal has no eyes. Tessa names the foal Shiner, and they are inseperable. Then, Tessa's mother, Myra, tells Tessa that she can't take this arguing anymore and they are leaving to England. Tessa is brokenhearted. When Tessa is five, Myra gets married to a greedy man named Maurice Morrison-Pleydell. He is a racehorse owner who only cares about how much money he gets from the bets. His appearance in Tessa's life throws her into a state of depression and hatred at the world. Myra and Maurice send Tessa to a bunch of different boarding schools, but she keeps getting kicked out. When she is twelve, they can't find any boarding school to take her to. So Maurice forces her to work in a small racehorse training stable called Sparrow's Wyck. At first Tessa hates working there, because Maurice is forcing her to. But then a horse arrives that will change her life forever. His name is Buffoon, and he is the son of Shiner. Nobody knows this except Tessa. Nobody especially cares about Buffoon besides Tessa because he is very ugly and unproportionate and no one thinks he will become a racehorse. But Tessa dreams of becoming a jockey and winning the Grand National on him.This story follows Tessa until she is 22. It is a story of suspense, action, greed and finding out who you are. If you are not much of a reader, don't be put off by the thickness of the book. This is definitley worth the read.

It all starts going downhill when Tessa's parents divorce when she is little and she is torn from the blind mare she loved in Ireland and they move to Liverpool. Her mother marries Maurice, a rich but heartless man who promptly sends Tessa away to boarding school. Tessa's attitude gets her expelled from more than a few schools by the time she's twelve, and in a last attempt to rid Tessa from his home, Maurice shoves her off to a stable two miles from the home where steeplechasers are trained. It is a humble place, and Tessa wants to be anywhere but there. She tries to get herself kicked out, but ends up forming a friendship with the stable staff, especially after the arrival of an ugly colt who turns out to be the son of the mare she loved as a child. Tessa knows he is great, and she intends to prove it by winning the Grand National. But that's not quite so easy when she must deal with the problem of her stepfather--and deal with him she does, in her own unique way. This book was excellent. Racing knowledge is good and helps push the believability of this story. The characters are real and the author is not afraid to show their bad sides or the negative sides to life. A nice, long, satisfying read that will leave you wanting more, it plays with your emotions. I loved it.

As a horsewoman and a library clerk, I feel quite confident in my 5 star rating of this book. The plot is all-engrossing: drama, humor, joy, sadness, romance, and lots of action. I found myself exclaiming aloud, crying, or laughing at certain passages. Another cool thing about this book is that it isn't just for the middle or high schooler - adults will enjoy it just as much. The only drawback to reading it is that now I'm hard-pressed to begin another book that is just as terrific! I'm still reeling with this one...