The Horse Dancer - Jojo Moyes

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s a story about being lost and how the pursuit of a dream can lead you to clarity, albeit after dragging you through all the murky things.

I relate to the two protagonists – Sarah and Natasha – equally. Sarah, as a lost child with a fiery determination and Natasha, a hard woman – the result of being betrayed time and again. The inevitable collision of their paths results in a whirlwind of emotion and repetitive testing of each character’s durability. As with many good stories, the development that they are forced to go through in this book gave me hope to just keep going. This story captures the essence of the quote: “the only way out, is through”.

I will admit that I found myself hating Natasha at first, thinking her unreasonable and bitter. Then I began to feel sorry for her as I realized that she has only responded to her circumstances in a way that makes her feel safest. Eventually, I could relate so deeply to the hurt and resulting defensiveness that she portrays. The romance element in this book successfully adds to Natasha’s complex character, but it is not overstated as a contributing factor. No, the main love story is between Sarah and her horse.

I was rooting for Sarah from the very beginning, probably because she represents so many of us as young girls; we do what we need to in order to survive or to protect those we love. Many times, I inwardly pleaded for her to “just TALK to someone” and realized just as many times that in reality, talking to people isn’t the easiest thing to do. The truth is, she didn’t trust anyone except her grandfather – from her perspective, she couldn’t. Her stubbornness is frustrating until one puts themselves in her shoes. How many of us refuse to ask for help for the sake of protecting our personal space, or even those around us, whom we love? When we trust, we give other people power and that’s never comfortable, regardless of how trustworthy the other party may turn out to be.

The one thing about Sarah that was really inspiring, though, was her vision and determination. At the beginning of the book, her and her grandfather she this grand vision for her future, and throughout the book she never wavers from it, even when her grandfather gets sick. I was her cheerleader from very early on and with every milestone she reached, my heart was more and more invested. There is a point towards the end of the book where I even cried real tears for her. The things she’s willing to do and go through in order to protect her horse floored me. Sometimes it’s hard not to be frustrated with her, but putting oneself in her shoes, it becomes easy to understand why she did things the way she did.

I found the Horse Dancer’s storyline to be an inspiring one, and it was written beautifully. I would probably read it again.