Moyes crafts each of these characters so skillfully, showing all sides, boils and all. There are times when you want to throttle all of them but then later want to applaud them for what’s truly in their hearts. Natasha was the most challenging to embrace as she was adept at hiding her feelings, presenting most frequently a rather cool indifference. But typical of a Moyes character, what lay beneath that exterior was complex. What binds all of them together, however is Boo, the most fabulous horse who Sarah loves unconditionally. In what seems a world away, Natasha Macauley rides a bursting London train to her busy law firm. In the midst of wondering what to do about her charming ex-husband, she reads on someone else’s newspaper that one of the children she defended in court has committed a violent crime. Also on that train ride, she swears she saw a horse, rearing gracefully while a little girl commanded him from the ground. . . . The twelve year old girl sounds about 6, the lawyer's voice becomes so annoyingly whiney that I could see why her husband left her and Cowboy John is impossibly cliched.

When Captain is unavailable to Sarah, due to health problems, she is unexpectedly thrust into the lives of Natasha, a solicitor advocate and her soon-to-be ex-husband and commercial photographer Mac. Unsure and untrusting Sarah tries to weave her way through life’s challenges by keeping things close to the vest. All the while trying to navigate Natasha and Mac’s challenging relationship.Fifty years later, in a nearly forgotten corner of London, Henri and his granddaughter Sarah pay what they can to a salty American expat named Cowboy John—who’s barely keeping the stable out of the hands of the local villains—to board their magnificent horse, Boo. Henri teaches Boo and Sarah how to defy gravity as he did in France so many years ago and dreams that one day Sarah will be able to live the life he couldn’t—as an écuyer at Le Cadre Noir. There is kind of a lot going on in this book, and some of the details we don't learn until very close to the end when some important parts of the past are finally revealed. I liked Sarah for her fierceness, and Cowboy John for his coolness. But Natasha, the lawyer who becomes accidentally involved in Sarah's life to the point of totally upending her own? I was not impressed with her, I'm afraid. I became very annoyed with her and did not care nearly as much about her storyline as I did about Sarah's, even though the two threads were eventually completely entangled. I really loved this book for teaching me about the Le Cadre Noir academy in France. I had never heard of it; but, I was aware of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and the famous Lippizaner horses. The horses and their performances are beautiful and awe-inspiring. The YouTube videos of Le Cadre Noir performances are equally as breathtaking.

La storia è meravigliosa. Scorre veloce, appassiona ed emoziona. Iniziato il primo capitolo è impossibile fermarsi! La Moyes gestisce bene tutto. I also loved the parts of the book that focused on Natasha’s relationship with Sarah. Natasha struggles to bond with her, which I thought was actually very realistic and something that could very easily happen if you suddenly fostered a 14 year old girl that you didn’t know. Photo by TheOther Kev on Pexels.com Parts of the book I didn’t love as much After hours of incessant conflict and arguments the final epilogue has the main characters implausibly transformed into a saccharine-sweet happy family.As a young man, Henri Lachapelle is the star of La Cadre Noir, an elite group of horsemen in the French city of Saumur. But when he meets Florence, it’s love at first sight and he gives it all up to be with her in England. Now, he lives on a London estate with his granddaughter Sarah but his dream lives on. In a stable under railway arches, lives Boo, a Selle Francais he bought as a colt for Sarah; together they train him and he gives them purpose. But when Henri suffers a stroke, Sarah must go into foster care and do whatever it takes to not be parted from Boo, even if that means hiding his existence. Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable characters and just the right amount of sexual tension.

THE HORSE DANCER is not a young adult novel, but Moyes succeeds in creating a typical teenage character. Sarah tries desperately to do everything on her own without help, but she is just not mature enough, despite being headstrong and incredibly gutsy. She thinks she can handle everything that is happening to her, yet she needs adult supervision and boundaries. However, she is still very likable, and as a reader it is easy to see when she is trying her best to do the right thing. Moyes carefully balances her teenage nature with the depth of someone who is in over her head. When Sarah is talking to Thom about Le Cadre Noir she says, “Papa always said that when he came to Le Cadre Noir it was the first time in his life he had felt understood. Like there were just a few other people in the world who spoke his language and all of them lived in that one place” (p. 353). Is there a place for you that is like this? If there is, describe it. If there isn’t, describe what it would be like. Suddenly, circumstances have Sarah and Boo making their way to France on a wing and a prayer. They WILL make it and Sarah WILL keep her promise to Captain—she must. What an adventure! How do you think Sarah’s life would be different if she would have listened to her headmaster and concentrated on her studies instead of Boo? Some people would say that formal education is the most crucial part of an adolescent’s life. How is that true for Sarah? What was your reaction to the formal and disciplined way that Henri raised Sarah? In what ways did this type of upbringing help her? In what ways may it have hindered her?

Jami Davenport--The Gift Horse

Sarah stables Boo in London’s Sparepenny Lane under the watchful eye of Cowboy John and his sketchy acquaintances. Sarah is introduced to Maltese Sal, a man who runs “things” in this area and is feared by most. Having lost her mother at a young age and her grandmother four years prior to the start of the novel, 14-year-old Sarah Lachapelle lives a happy, quiet life with her grandfather, Papa, in a less-than-desirable area of London. Papa gives her a horse named Boo that they’ve been training in city parks and alleys. A once-famous horseman with the prestigious and elite riding school Le Cadre Noir, Papa received the highest honors as a young man. Now he’s training Sarah and Boo to achieve those same honors. Life is good until Papa becomes ill, and Sarah’s life totally changes.

La Moyes è tornata in pompa magna! FINALMENTE! Con una trama che riesce ha far si che due storie, apparentemente distinte, possano fondersi in un’avventura straordinaria! From the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars and the forthcoming Someone Else's Shoes, a novel about a lost girl and her horse, the enduring strength of friendship, and how even the smallest choices can change everything Fans of Moyes (Paris for One and Other Stories, 2016, etc.) know what to expect from her books—big emotions, quirky characters, and a few tears—and this one delivers on all counts. For me the parts of the book that I loved the most was Henri and Sarah’s passion for their horse. Their dedication to their dream of Sarah being able to ride in The Cadre Noir just like her grand father did. In parts of the book it shows that Sarah will do anything to keep Boo and achieve her dream of riding in Saumar. The books brought tears to my eyes when the book spoke of the bond Sarah and Boo had. Something I could relate to with my horse. I also really loved the parts about the Cadre Noir, of which I was vaguely familiar with before but now I have really read up about them.

Christmas Gifts

Me Before You made Jojo Moyes a household name. If you've not read this heartbreaking love story, or if you've read it and loved it but don't know which is Jojo's books to read next, here's the Good Housekeeping guide to her best novels. There are a few similarities between The Horse Dancer and her new novel, The Girl You Left Behind, especially the addition of legal aspects. I could see that the things Natasha dealt with in her job were reflective of some of the things going on with Sarah but I found them a bit distracting to the overall plot. In the book, Sarah’s London is very different from Natasha’s London, but like many cities around the world, Sarah’s poor neighborhood is becoming gentrified. Is this true of London? And how do you feel about those poorer neighborhoods disappearing?