With all the unread books gathering dust in my house you would think I would hurry up and pick up anything unvisited and review it here for you guys to enjoy. Not so it seems. Color me persistent but I just had to give A BREED APART by Jeanne Day Lord (Robert Rosenblum) another shot despite my lukewarm review of it sometime last year. Truth be told, I always felt like I had missed something the first time around, and since I found myself re-reading it last week and enjoying it way much more, it was a no brainer that the main topic of this week’s blog entry should be yet again on that title.
Let me reinstate that if you’re a horse lover you’ll certainly dig A BREED APART. Considering that I am far from being one, the thought of me enjoying this book even more than before seemed very unlikely and yet I did. The author certainly knows her ABCs of thoroughbred racing and breeding as the plot centers around those traits via a likable heroine named Geri-Jo. Born into poverty, with a drunken widowed father, a jealous sister and a weak-minded younger brother who ends up institutionalized when he accidently sets himself on fire, she flees to New York where she eventually inherits enough money to study and become a top Equine vet. But when murder takes center stage and Geri-Jo is falsely accused of being involved she finds herself not only fighting justice to clear her name—as past mistakes suddenly resurface—but also trying her hardest to keep a love that is meant to be despite the odds.
What changed my mind regarding this effort is the
timing, mostly. With no deadline reviews or work overload in the horizon I was
freer to do anything I like. But mainly it was finally accepting the novel for
what it is and not for what it was supposed to be. ‘Cause at the end of the day
Jeanne Day Lord does manage to sketch a catchy plot, thus making A BREED APART a page-turning experience.
On top of that, the author often uses the show
don’t tell mantra in her narrative, which heightens even more the overall
appreciation. But the icing on the cake is the gay character she introduces along
the way. He winds up having a positive influence on the heroine, which as you
know is a rare attribute in ’80s novels such as this one. Flawed still (a 100
pages or so could have been easily cut without losing any key element), A BREED APART is nonetheless a joy to
read and will likely be to anyone who dares venturing into something different.
I’m so glad to have had a change of heart about this one. Just goes to show you
that second chances are sometimes fruitful. I wonder if any other lukewarm
review of mine is in need of some sprucing up. I hear that MISTRAL’S DAUGHTER
by Judith Krantz is way better than I remember it to be. Stay tuned.
Until next post—Martin
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| PB US Edition |
2 comments:
Funny how book covers can jog one's memory. I didn't recognize the title of this novel nor the first book cover graphic shown, but the alternate image at the end was very recognizable. I remembered my mother reading this when I was young.
Your mother had (has) great taste, Scooter. I actually prefer the the alternate image at the end. More enticing, IMO.
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