Riding Lessons

Rating:
Summary: A gorgeous book by a major talent
Review: I consider myself a fairly discerning reader, and a book must engage me on the first page or else I'll set it aside. Sara Gruen's RIDING LESSONS is so explosive that not only was I hooked immediately, I lost a night's sleep to finish it. I became so immersed in Annemarie's life that I was saddened when I reached the end of her story.

Gruen writes with astonishing grace about several difficult issues. Her depiction of the power struggle between Annemarie and her daughter is rendered with empathy, and thankfully avoids relying on melodrama or syrupy platitudes. Annemarie's parents are vital, vibrant characters, so alive and skillfully realized you feel like you're eavesdropping on private, painful conversations. Gruen also exhibits a biting sense of humor, imbuing Annemarie with a sharp wit and fragile bravado that leads her into several comical situations. And the sequences about riding can only be described as breathtaking.

RIDING LESSONS is so exquisitely written I often found myself stopping to reread sentences, just to enjoy their structure and cadence. I urge anyone who's tired of the same old stale, formulaic women's fiction to read RIDING LESSONS; I promise it'll restore your faith in the genre. I eagerly await Gruen's next effort.

Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT
Review: I couldn't put this down!!! The language is delicious and the imagery breathtaking. If you want to escape into complex situation, but emerge satisfied-this is the book to take you there.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant and moving
Review: I just finished "Riding Lessons" and my eyes are still damp. This is a beautifully emotional and moving book, and every note rings true. Annemarie is far from a perfect heroine, yet her every move resonated with me; I understood every action and felt every emotion exactly as she did.

The relationships explored between the three generations are nuanced and lovely, as is the growth of Annemarie as a mother and a human being.

Sara Gruen's writing is lyrical with just the right amount of description to paint the picture and move the story along.

"Riding Lessons" is an emotional story of family, love, and the struggle to overcome a painful past. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good book.
Review: I liked the book. Decent character development, lots of horse details included. I love to read about horses and this is both a horse story as well as a story about life and the many facets and choices in our lives. I would have liked to see more romance. Overall, good story and lots of things happening. Im not sure the title fits the story.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding New Voice in Women's Fiction
Review: I rarely, if ever, write Amazon reviews. I've shopped at Amazon since Amazon got started and this is the third review I have ever written. Well, RIDING LESSONS by Sara Gruen was so incredible that it moved me to write an Amazon review, and believe me, that's saying a lot. I bought it on the recommendation of a friend, and boy, am I glad I did.

This book is groundbreaking in the area of women's fiction. Aren't you tired of reading about the same-old same-old heroines created by Danielle Steele, or Jude Deveraux? Wouldn't you really like to read about a heroine who is like someone you know, or even like you? If that's the case then RIDING LESSONS by Sara Gruen is the book for you.

Annemarie is portrayed sensitively and honestly. She is a heroine with flaws, yet her flaws somehow make her even more likeable. Her relationship with her daughter is entirely believeable, and the scenes with her dying father were poignant and well-wrought. I was completely drawn in by the scenes involving Annemarie and her horse. Even if you are not a "horse person" you will enjoy reading about Annemarie's relationships with Harry and Hurrah.

The last time pages turned this quickly for me was with THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. As a matter of fact, I began reading this book on the way home from the bookstore, at a stoplight. When the light changed, I nearly got in a car crash. If that doesn't tell you about the capability of this book to draw in a reader, then nothing will.

This book is special. I wish more contemporary women's fiction was written with such flair and intelligence. I'll definitely be recommending it to my friends, and I will eagerly await whatever comes next from this amazing new author. If you are looking for a page-turner that does not insult your intelligence, look no further than RIDING LESSONS by Sara Gruen.

Rating:
Summary: Charming
Review: I read this book on a plane and I couldn't put it down, not even to eat the bad food. A beautifully written, carefully plotted masterpiece about horses, confronting your fears, about living. When I was finished I gave it to my husband and he doesn't have the attention span for the Curious George books and even HE couldn't put it down. We anxiously await Gruen's next...

Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: If you liked the Horse Whisperer, Seabiscuit, or Hidalgo, read this book!

I was completely hooked by the heart-stopping opening scene with Annemarie and Harry and couldn't put the book down until it was finished. I read it from cover to cover in about ten hours. It's that engaging!

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. The characters are so real it's hard not to care about each and every one like good friends or family. Annemarie in particular is so easy to relate to I couldn't help pulling for her--no matter how tangled a mess she got herself into, no matter how callous and self-centered her actions sometimes were. You just knew she's trying to make everything right--she just didn't have a clue how to go about it!

The scenes with the horses are also so tangible and true to life they're honestly the best part of the story.

I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: A horsey book for grown-ups
Review: If, like me, you spent your childhood devouring pony books (Misty, Flicka) and then moved on to some of Jilly Cooper's books but thought the latter didn't pay the horses enough attention, RIDING LESSONS is what you should be packing for your holiday/weekend away or simply for your commute home.

The central character, Annemarie, is so much more than your stock horsey heroine: she's a real woman. Her complicated personal life and family set-up mean that, gasp, you almost pay as much attention to what's going on in the house as in the stable. And as life piles complication after complication on to Annemarie's shoulders you find yourself rooting for her.

Pour yourself a glass of wine, run a bubble-bath and read RIDING LESSONS.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent character portrayal
Review: In Riding Lessons, Sara Gruen gives us a challenging heroine, one who is emotionally stunted yet remarkably sympathetic. We first meet Annemarie as a world-class rider at age 18, possessed with herself, her beloved horse, Harry, and the expectations that others, particularly her domineering father, have for her career. After an accident that destroys Harry and nearly destroys her, she cannot face riding again, and equally cannot face her father and those she believes, rightly or wrongly, expect her to live up to her promise as an equestrienne. So, after a remarkable recovery, she sets about proving herself in a life entirely divorced from her family. Twenty years later, that life falls apart, and Annemarie learns that her father has ALS. The remainder of the novel plays out her growing awareness of herself, amid many missteps, as she reconciles the person she has become with the life she abandoned.

Gruen writes the book from Annemarie's point of view, allowing us to see among the heroine's many faults her understanding that the weakness are her own. We feel her struggle to reach out to her dying father and her pain at being unable to bring herself to do so. We see what's wrong with her handling of her daughter, yet we understand, and we appreciate her willingness to accept her role in the contentious relationship and try to change.

And then there are the horses. Without sentimentalizing, Gruen brings to life the powerful feelings that come as horse and rider learn to respond to one another. Gruen's writing, and particularly her dialog, is smooth and natural and sometimes playful. She gives us the details we need to understand a scene or a character and lets us react-with tears and occasional laughter for this reader. This is a book to be savored, one I'm sure I'll reread before long.

Rating:
Summary: Still swooning...
Review: over this exquisite book. I have not felt this way about a book since I was a teenager swinging in my backyard hammock, clutching Middlemarch to my chest, wishing the spell would never end. RIDING LESSONS is blissfully heartbreaking, achingly funny, quietly smart and surprisingly sexy.

Still, this isn't your mother's "women's fiction." Gruen passes up mediocre, formulaic melodrama in favor of a stylistic sensibility more typical of Margaret Atwood than Anita Shreve. RIDING LESSONS is complex, textured, lyrical... it's so well-written it practically hums. This is one of those books that lingers in your mind long after you've read the last line.