BOTM for June is the Secret Horses of Briar Hill

[Jemima]

This month’s read is Megan Shepherd’s The Secret Horses of Briar Hill.

Once you’ve read it, post your comments here. Try to avoid plot spoilers, or enclose them between the tag ‘spoiler’ enclosed in square brackets.

I’m hoping my copy will be on our mobile library when it comes on Tuesday!

[Raquelle]

Man, I loved this book. I read it in one get go. It reminded me of The War That Saved My Life, though I don't know why. Great story.

[Jemima]

I've got another month to wait till I get the book :( It didn't make it onto my library bus.

[Becky]

Jemima wrote: "I've got another month to wait till I get the book :( It didn't make it onto my library bus."

I'm so sorry about that, Jemima. I really enjoyed the story as well and hope you get a chance to read it soon. It was a quick read and had a gentleness and depth to it that made it feel classic even though it was published so recently. I checked it out from the library, but I think I might need to buy a copy of my own. I keep finding myself daydreaming of riding on the back of a winged horse.

[Rebecca]

I was going to take a pass on this one, because I'm busy. But your comments make me think I'll go ahead and order it. "Quick read" is a good recommendation to me right now :p

[Justine]

I agree with Becky. It's got a timeless classic feel to it even though it's published recently. Very gentle, so I would say it's for the lower middle grade, or even advanced younger readers. A horse lover would enjoy this book.

[SaraKat]

I adored this book! It is not one I would have picked on my own since I'm not a big lover of middle school fantasy books, but I'm glad this group chose it. It was beautifully written and had many of my favorite plot devices.

(view spoiler)[Our protagonist turns out to be an unreliable narrator much like in Life of Pi. Her memories of her horses are terrible, but later turn out to be even worse. She speaks of her family in the present tense and is apparently deceiving herself about the past. I also love the many twists and revelations that occur throughout-- the tufts of hair, the horses, her family--it was so sad and it just kept getting worse for her. The ambiguous ending was meant to make readers wonder what had truly happened--did she die or did she get better? I was convinced of one way and then thought some more and changed my mind.

The constant thread of war throughout the book was interesting because it seemed so remote and then it affected everyone in random ways. All the men in the story are damaged in some way. It is awful to think of all the able-bodied men being suddenly missing from the country. Those left behind had to manage without them.

Dr. Turner is like Thomas: He isn't whole. Only whole men can go to war to fight the Germans. But what Dr. Turner is missing isn't an arm or a leg or even a finger. It's a part of his heart. It's the daughter and wife he lost to the bombs. The missing part that makes him twitch when there is a thunderstorm, and that one time, when lightning struck the roof and he crawled under the kitchen table and made a strange whining sound like a dog...

The war affected the children as well:


Of course, missing the war can affect the people left behind as well--especially Thomas who is the son of a legendary soldier and leader but was born imperfect and was never able to live up to his family's reputation. He was one of the few who could see the horses like Emmaline (or so he said) and she had a theory about why:

Maybe Thomas sees the winged horses because he didn't go off to war like the other young men in the village. Maybe missing the war means he hasn't entirely grown up.

I loved how Emmaline's emotions and imagination were written.

Now I grow an inch, two, three, until my anger towers over him.

Her world was colorless and gray and she had to go on a mission to find all the colors and bring them back into her world. This was very symbolic of her state of mind.

It has been so long since I've seen so many colors all together that I'm afraid I might have forgotten them. The only blue I can picture now is a watery sky. The only yellow the murky medicine Dr. Turner gives us. But there must be more out there. There must be brighter things.

(hide spoiler)]

[Rebecca]

I got sidetracked, but it's looking good so far. Not my favorite; I'm just not that into magical realism. But good.

[Maria]

I liked the setting of this book--a creative twist on the "kids during World War II" setting--and I was prepared to enjoy it, especially when I ran into the minor character, Sister Mary Grace (since my name is Sister Maria Grace!), but I have to say it didn't really care for this book. The "unreliable narrator" didn't work for me, and seemed not to go with the young age of the audience (I agree with Justine that it seems appropriate for the younger side of middle grade in other respects) If I had read this as a child, I would have been very annoyed at the ambiguous ending.

[Becky]

Maria wrote: "I liked the setting of this book--a creative twist on the "kids during World War II" setting--and I was prepared to enjoy it, especially when I ran into the minor character, Sister Mary Grace (sinc..."

I was a fan of this story and got swept up in the beauty of the writing, but I have to admit that as soon as I finished it I've had this nagging question of whether or not I would have enjoyed it when I was a kid. I'm still not sure of my answer yet and have to agree with you about the ending. I did struggle a little with wanting an explanation about what was real and what was imagined.

[Paula]

I messed up and speed read through the book because I had to find out what happened. Now I have to go back to the beginning and read the book properly :) I really liked what I read though!

[Rebecca]

Maria, I had a reaction much like yours--I did enjoy the writing and like the setting, but maybe I've never grown up, because I don't really care for that "is it real or isn't it" style, and I don't like the ambiguous ending (and would really have hated it as a kid--I was even more into clarity then). I like fantasy, don't get me wrong. Totally willing to suspend disbelief. I just don't like being jerked around so I don't know if I should be looking for the rational explanation or enjoying the fantasy.

[Rebecca]

Apologies for the rather awful sentence above. I'll have my coffee before I try to write any more :)

[Jemima]

Finally got this book, and was glad I got the paperback to see the lovely drawings. They were very like those of Wonderstruck, which irked me a little. I’ve just discovered we read Wonderstruck in 2014, though! How time flies.

I didn't enjoy the book to start with, it felt clumsy and contrived. However, like many MG I read, it gathered pace and I’d now call it a compelling read. I suspect I’d have liked it even more when I was a kid, unless I got too irritated by the secret garden elements.

I think it’s a worthy addition to our library.

I thought the ending was intriguing. It was interesting that the author discussed it in her afterword.