The Year of the Horses

An honest, resolute memoir that details how a writer suffering an existential crisis found healing and salvation in her passion for horses.

Novelist and writing guru Courtney Maum takes readers on a candid, deeply moving journey that details how she found her way out of a labyrinth of depression by rekindling her passion for horses. 

By her 35th birthday, Maum (Before and After the Book Deal; Costalegre) was a successful novelist, working on her second book. She was at her happiest--a beloved wife and doting mother of a beautiful baby girl, Nina. She and her equally creative filmmaker husband had moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., into a fixer-upper house they bought in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. But when Nina turned two, something indefinable manifested in Maum--an existential crisis. Maum was deluged with roiling feelings that stalled her writing, plagued her with insomnia and provoked a general feeling of emotional malaise. A non-life-threatening car crash sustained with her husband and daughter "was a match to the depression" that would all-out engulf her. However, the accident proved a necessary jolt that sent Maum on a journey to reassess her life and decipher what might bring her a sense of peace and joy, and restore her equilibrium.

In therapy, Maum mined her past, recognizing how she missed her affinity and fascination for horses, starting when she was a child with a pony, boarded in a barn near her family's Greenwich, Conn., home. Maum's journey of healing and salvation in reconnecting to equine culture is wittily engaging and uncompromisingly forthright. She confronts the past, while also braiding in delightful flourishes regarding the metaphorical meanings of horses and the universal role they have played throughout history and in the arts.

 The Year of the Horses: A Memoir by Courtney Maum

Tin House Books, $27.95 hardcover, 9781953534156, 416 pages

Publication Date: April 19, 2022

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (May 3, 2022), link HERE

 

To read the longer form of this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade (March 22, 2022), link HERE

THE THING IS - Reviews

Reviews are pouring in for THE THING IS, a story about a therapy dog named Prozac who rescues a woman in grief. Take a glance at what a few readers and book bloggers have had to say about the novel:

"A story brimming with humor and heart, and an ending that's as unexpected as it is satisfying." -- Claire Ashby, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of When You Make it Home

"A truly humorous twist on the issue of human frailty interacting with animal charm...offers a new take on grief recovery, which is both lighthearted and insightful!" -- Trudie Barreras, Amazon "Vine Voice" Top Reviewer

"Kathleen Gerard captures the powers of caring, connection, and resilience...Prozac, the book's funny and wise canine hero, helps humans of all ages overcome their losses and grief, find happiness and adventure, and renew their joy in live and love." -- Susan Sipprelle, award-winning documentary filmmaker, Tree of Life Productions (Over 50 and Out of Work; Set for Life; Soldier On: Life After Deployment)

"Kathleen Gerard is a sterling storyteller who held my heart in her hands from start to finish. I recommend The Thing Is to anyone who is a pet lover (or not) and to anyone who is grieving or facing the unknown. The Thing Is brings hope, happiness, and new beginnings. This is my BEST read this year!" -- Pat Pascale, Fresh Fiction

"Is this an endearing book about a dog? Yes. But it's more than that. The devastating ache of loss throbs through its pages from beginning to end. Even though the story is tempered with a good dose of humor and tail-wagging cuteness, be prepared - it's an emotional read with a capital E !" -- Nicole Langan, Scranton Book Examiner

"If you love books that have a strong story with a tad of humor thrown in, then you need to pick up this little gem...Everyone needs a little Prozac in their lives!" -- Barbara Briggs, "Booker T Farms"

"I teared up, I smiled...A great book everyone should read!" -- Kelly Smith, "Kelly Smith Reviews"

"Totally lovely, heartwarming and hilarious...Some moments left me in tears, some moments made me laugh, and other moments touched deep into my soul." -- Elle, "Pretty Little Book Reviews"

To read all of the reviews link HERE



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