A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history
'I loved this book so much' ANN PATCHETT
'Brilliantly varied and with a galloping pace' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A masterpiece' JANE SMILEY
'Thrilling' NEW YORK TIMES
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamour of any racetrack.
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse - one studying the stallion's bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred, Lexington, who became America's greatest stud sire, Horse is an original, gripping, multi-layered reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America.
'A thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David' New York Times
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016
1000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David.
Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations. In a life that takes him from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.
Peeling away the myth to bring David to life in Second Iron Age Israel, Brooks traces the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage.
'A page turner. . .Brooks is a master at bringing the past alive. . .in her skillful hands the issues of the past echo our own deepest concerns: love and loss, drama and tragedy, chaos and brutality' Alice Hoffman
Dans le Massachusetts, à Concord, un homme quitte femme et enfants pour s'engager auprès des nordistes. Un père aimant, mari fidèle et abolitionniste convaincu : le docteur March. Enrôlé comme aumônier, March va bientôt voir ses certitudes ébranler par les atrocités commises sur le champ de bataille. Mais rien n'aurait pu le préparer à retrouver celle qu'il n'a jamais pu oublier : la belle et douce Grace, une esclave rencontrée vingt ans plus tôt... Entre attirance tragique et culpabilité dévorante, engagements humanistes et devoirs familiaux, lynchages publics et mise à sac de plantations, March va devoir affronter des épreuves qui le changeront à jamais. Seul face à lui-même, sur une terre où s'effacent les frontières entre le bien et le mal...
