The Lover of Horses

Gallagher's The Lover of Horses is an honest, yet graceful portrait of what makes us who we are. The title story shows the connection between human beings in a very powerful way. In my opinion this is the most well-written story in the text, demonstrative of Gallagher's immense talent in writing stories that are powerful because of their spareness. "Recourse" demonstrates the importance of living day-to-day. "The Woman Who Saved Jesse James" is a story about finding all the "selves" that we are and becoming the "self" we want to be. Each of these stories illustrates the process of interior evaluation we go through as humans. They ask "Which part of us is the essential self?" Gallagher opens up the power of choice and how this affects who we become. Each story connects with our "humanness", as we see that grace comes to the humans in Gallagher's stories, even in the most unexpected ways. Julia M. Hawley