The way in which Geraldine tied all of her historical threads together was so impressive, and as a reader, I am filled with gratitude for her talent. The parallels between Theo’s contemporary experiences within modern American society and Jarret’s as a slave in 19th century America were startling to observe. The direction the story took for Jess and Theo was shocking, all the more so for its authenticity.

I adore books that demonstrate a connection between humans and animals and this story had two such relationships, with Theo and his Kelpie Clancy also having an incredible bond. The relationship between the horse, Lexington, and Jarret, was so very beautiful. It is the first novel in recent years to make me cry. I’m not sure there’s much that I can say about this novel beyond concurring that it is a modern masterpiece. Horse is the latest masterpiece from a writer with a prodigious talent for bringing the past to life. With the moral complexity of March and a multi-stranded narrative reminiscent of People of the Book, this enthralling novel is a gripping reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America. 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. New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.

An itinerant young artist who makes his name from paintings of the horse takes up arms for the Union and reconnects with the stallion and his groom on a perilous night far from the glamour of any racetrack. 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, even as the nation reels towards war.

From these strands of fact, Geraldine Brooks weaves a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history. A discarded painting in a roadside clean-up, forgotten bones in a research archive, and Lexington, the greatest racehorse in US history.

Summary of march by geraldine brooks