Member Reviews
Faye W, Reviewer
Finished The Loneliness of Horses by Andrea Thalasinos
Description:
In 1972 Evie has a young kid, two mustangs, a stolen lamb, and an abusive ex. She flees Arizona for Canada and shacks up with a dickhead. In 1778 Belle absconds from her father's house in Scotland to nick her sister's fiance in Canada (who’s also quite the dickhead), taking two horses on the perilous sea crossing with her.
Liked:
There's loads going on here, the scenery is lush and there's a love of animals that provides a (slightly shaky) throughline for the book. I liked that Evie goes to bat for what she believes in, although she evidently doesn't believe in herself enough to lift a finger for her own peace of mind.
Disliked:
Very much in need of a good edit pass. The narrative seems to shift between the two main timelines at random, and jumps forward and backward in time for Evie's - also shifting to another character at one point in the middle, before we've been introduced to him in either of the main narratives. At least one named horse just goes completely missing in the middle of the book, and action is often interrupted by flashbacks to random conversations with Evie's neighbours, almost all of whom are utterly unnecessary for the plot. The link between the two timelines never really coalesces, and hints of a ghostly presence are pretty much just dropped halfway through. There's a lot of compelling material here, but it's so disorganised it becomes difficult to understand and/or care.
Would recommend if this passes through the hands of a loving editor. Otherwise, unfortunately not.
Kathryn M, Reviewer
This was a beautifully done story and was engaged with what was happening in the story. The characters worked well overall and thought the feel was everything that I was looking for. Andrea Thalasinos wrote this well and thought the concept was wonderfully done.
