horse/man

by Julia Merritt

GENRE: Fiction – Literary

Blurb

What happens when your entire identity revolves around a way of life that is becoming obsolete?

 

In the 1920s, as Canada progresses through the Industrial Revolution, horses are still the rural engines of survival. As a child Adam lives this reality on his family’s farm in the Ottawa Valley, planning to take over one day and have a family of his own. When his parents die during the Great Depression, nineteen-year-old Adam is disinherited in favour of his brother and is forced to move to the city to find work. Without a formal education his choices are few, yet he finds a place to use his horsemanship skills in the dwindling forces of the Canadian cavalry based near Montreal. There he finds pride in being a mounted soldier, and friendship with his fellow dragoons. But the cavalry units are mechanized by the beginning of World War Two, and when Adam is sent to Europe, he must abandon his equine partners for trucks and tanks. In the catastrophic experience of war, he will lose everything once again.

 

Broken in body and spirit, he returns to Canada where he must confront the question of survival in a world that doesn’t seem to have a place for an injured soldier. Full of poetic reflections on what it means to work with horses, horse/man is a powerful story about a man searching for dignity and connection in the face of a rapidly shifting world.

Read an Excerpt

Adam got onto his knees for a better view, holding on to the side of the wagon.

The car revealed itself to be a shiny Model T. Perhaps the driver, like the horses, could not resist the lure of moving in the sunshine. Adam watched the car bump slowly over the ruts, advancing towards them. Grey smoke wisped behind it.

Ciaran slowed the team to a walk, and they could hear the engine, a hum that grew to a rumble. Pete and Jack jerked their heads as it got close, banging into each other.

“Go on, get up,” Ciaran growled. The horses’ ears twisted sideways and forwards, trying to decide between the driver or the instinct to flee. The wagon’s tongue rattled as their legs jostled.

The car driver slowed and lifted his hand as he passed the wagon. Ciaran raised his hand in response, the other clenched on the lines attached to Jack and Pete’s gaping mouths. When the car had gone safely by, he reached over, picked the buggy whip out of its holder, and smacked each rump with the corded lash.

“Go on, trot!” he commanded, loosening the lines. The team straightened out and carried on with their jobs. Adam stared at the receding vehicle, wrinkling his nose at the stench of the fumes.

Julia Merritt will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click here to enter the giveaway!

Meet Julia Merritt

Julia Merritt has been captivated by horses ever since she could see out of the car window. Then she grew up and became a public library CEO and certified animal bodyworker. She lives in Ontario, Canada, with her thoroughbred horses and smooth collie dogs. This is her first novel.

Connect with Julia Merritt

WEBSITE http://www.juliamerritt.ca/

FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/firehorseperformancebodywork

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/j.a.merritt/

TIKTOK https://www.tiktok.com/@j.a.merritt

GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60353574-horse-man

Get your copy of horse/man   

AMAZON.COM https://www.amazon.com/dp/0228856566

AMAZON.CA https://amazon.ca/dp/0228856566

INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/horse-man/9780228856542-item.html

BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/horse-man-julia-merritt/1140954662

BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/horseman-Julia-Merritt/9780228856566

SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1129973