The Horse Whisperer

Nicholas Evans

Grace Graves is riding her horse Pilgrim when there is a terrible accident. Grace loses her leg. Pilgrim loses his mind. Both need healing. Grace has the doctors and her family, although as a young teen, she does not appreciate them. Pilgrim has no one.

That is, until Grace's mother, Annie, starts studying and learning about horse whisperers. Then she learns about Tom Booker. If anybody can help heal Pilgrim, Tom can. She now has to convince him of that. She takes Pilgrim and Grace to Montana, leaving her husband Robert in New York. She wants to bring her daughter and the horse back and wants Tom to be the means of their healing.

So much of this story is wonderful. I was unhappy over the relationship between Annie and Tom, though. (I normally try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but I need to mention this one.) If Annie had been divorced or having problems with Robert I would have accepted more easily. But she was supposedly devoted to her husband and the fling with Tom was something beyond her control. The final chapter dealt with the situation as it had evolved very well. It should not have gotten to that point. Why did the adultry in this novel bother me when it didn't in Bridges of Madison County? I really don't know. But it did. Otherwise this is an excellent novel and I recommend it for Grace and Pilgrim's story.