The Horse from the Sea

Holmes delivers a gripping journey into 16th century Ireland and the history of the Connemara pony. One can almost smell seaweed, bracken, and the sweet breath of the beautiful Spanish horse washed up on the shore--soon to mingle his blood with that of the indomitable native mountain ponies. Cheers for the courage of common little crofter's daughter, Nora, in defying fear and Brittish tyranny in order to try to save the young Catholic nobleman, Jose, and the magnificent stallion, Lir; cheers as well for the message of letting go when we must. The reader is left hoping that Nora, Jose, Lir (and his offsping) might meet again! Susan Williams Beckhorn, author of Wind Rider, Harper Collins 2006

The Horse From the sea, is a beautifully written story by Victoria Holmes. The way the story is written really draws you into the world of Ireland and Nora love for horses. The description of Horse behavior is excellently drawn out, making envisioning the animal very easy. The story line for the book was well thought out and thankfully didn't turn out to be another "young adventurous girl defies her family to save [insert objects/person here]" scenario, because I wouldn't have read it otherwise. The chapters are not too lengthy to my great delight and explain pretty much what they were meant to do without losing the focus on the certain moment. The large variety of characters, spanning from the Irish, Spanish, and English Army characters were very fascinating in the term of the word. None of them ever felt dull or boring, or just some plot device to move Nora, Jose, and Lir's story along through the book. Jose was probably the most interesting male character in this story. He lacked the usual stereotypical male dominance, arrogance, and self-assured personality I've seen in many male characters in books. The emotion of the story can be felt near the very end of the book, when Jose, Lir and Nora part ways once the objective is achieved. But all in all, The Horse from the sea is an enjoyable read I would recommend to anyone.