My affection for Jojo Moyes has been well documented throughout my years on CBR so I was ecstatic to see The Horse Dancer was finally released in the United States! This is an older novel and it bears more resemblance to Ship of Brides or Silver Bay than her more recent novels like Me Before You and its sequel Me After You.
Like most of Moyes novels there are various viewpoints from several main characters whose stories intertwine to form a charming story. Natasha is a busy lawyer navigating the biggest case of her career; her confidence is shaken when she reads a shocking newspaper article about a former client. To make life more complicated her estranged husband, Mac, barges into her house announcing he is temporarily moving back in.
I think that if I become a horseman, I shall be a man on wings.
Meanwhile, Sarah is a horse-loving teenager who lives at home with her French grandfather, a stoic man who once trained at Le Cadre Noir. Unfortunately the old man has a stroke early in the novel leaving the willful young girl to fend for herself. One evening Natasha and Sarah’s paths cross; Natasha, concerned about Sarah’s home situation, brings the young girl into her already crowded home.
It is the same with horses and with men: all distempers in the early stage are more easily cured than when they have become chronic and have been wrongly treated.
Unbeknownst to Natasha and Mac, Sarah is keeping a secret that begins to eat away at her causing problems with her temporary caregivers. The Horse Dancer has a fairly predictable story line but Moyes’ talent for fleshing out her main characters keeps a potentially sappy story interesting. More Moyes please!
I started this the other night but am only about 1/3 of the way through. It’s decent — very Moyes.