Riding Lessons: A Novel

Sara Gruen

Oct 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished.

Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch.

But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.

Ratings and reviews

Whether you are a horse lover (like myself) or have ridden on a horse, this book is a terrific written story. In the story, Annmarie Zimmer, an olympic equestrienne and the main character, has her career come to an abrupt halt in a tragic accident that kills her horse and leaves her seriously injured. The story picks up twenty years later; her injuries have healed, but her emotional life is in shreds. Her: her husband has left her, her father is dying, and her rebellious teenaged daughter is causing her all kinds of problems. In summary, I thought it was good read maybe not a terrific read.

This was a well written page turner, and the details of the horse world are spot on accurate. The way that the author describes the feeling of riding and being with horses is absolutely superb. The characters were real and very well developed. The only problem for me is that the heroine is in such a muddle for the whole book, but of course it comes nicely together at the end. In that sense it was really predictable. But as a pony book for grown - ups, it really couldn't be better.

Boring in many places. Will not recommend it for good reading

About the author

Sara Gruen is the author of the New York Times bestseller Water for Elephants and Riding Lessons. She lives with her husband and three children in a conservation community outside Chicago.