The Horse Dancer

By: Jojo Moyes

Narrated by: Julia Franklin

Sarah's grandfather was a horseman of rare talent - only the exceptional are allowed into France's elite riding academy, Le Cadre Noir. But life took an unexpected turn, and now from a council estate in east London, the Captain hopes to train his granddaughter towards a better life.

Natasha is a lawyer whose job is to represent the best interests of children. Her confidence in her judgement has been shaken and her marriage has died - but an encounter with Sarah may lead to Natasha learning all she needs to know about life from a fourteen-year-old girl and a large horse named Boo...

©2009 Jojo Moyes (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

Great Book

I really enjoyed this book. I listen to books while I work and on a couple days I found myself working past the end of my day because I didn't want to stop listening. The horse parts were interesting and authentic enough to make a horse person (like myself) happy, while not being overpowering for people that aren't so interested in them. Yes, the main characters do make a lot of bad choices, but I still think the story as a whole was excellent. Loved the narrator too, she was easy to listen to and did the various voices well. I really didn't want the book to end. During listening to it I frequently could picture it in movie form so clearly that after it ended I went to search on google and see if it was coming out as a movie. I didn't find anything about that, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see it as one eventually, I would go see it. It has a few swear words and a couple of not overly graphic sex scenes (one of which was unwilling), but I would still say the book would be good for anywhere from a rather mature pre-teen through adult.

Two stories. One really interesting

And the other was torture. Maybe it was the way the reader portrayed Natasha…. Maybe it was just Natasha. But really, this isn’t a book you need to pay close attention to. So glad it ended.

Narrator's accents distract from the story

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I think I would recommend the print version, but not the narration. Many reviewers have loved the narrator, but she doesn't do it for me. There are too many accents and she does not do many of them well - for example, the requisite American cowboy speaks VERY slowly (Americans do not speak that slowly or flatly), and her French pronunciation was atrocious!
Still, the premise of the book is a good one, and I will read this in print.

Don’t give up!

It took me about an hour to settle in to this book. Couldn’t understand the connection until then, but once it’s made, it was a great book. I find myself learning lots of “proper English” from Jojo’s books! New one comes out tomorrow and it’s already purchased.

Beautiful

The narrator helped bring this story to life.
JoJo did it again! I felt tears & laughter & surprise through out again. When she wrote of Sarah on Boo's back, riding & preforming, you could actually see them in your minds eye. Beautiful!

One of the BEST books I have listened to. Ever!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Horse Dancer the most enjoyable?

Great story line. Engaging story. Splendid narrator. Recommend highly.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Horse Dancer?

The bridging of both eras. The strength of the characters and the power of hope

Wow!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Jojo Moyes has got to be one of the most talented writers in this decade. The Horse Dancer is another wonderful showcase for her formidable skills.

As always, her characters are beautifully written. Moyes skillfully develops everyone from Henri and Sarah all the way down to the peripheral administrative assistant. She also very successfully captures the personality of the horse! His quirks, loyalty and sensitivity are all right there for the reader to see. Many writers only flesh out the main characters but Jojo Moyes' writing lets you feel like you could finish this book and pick up one about the trailer driver, or the law partner. Moyes does not shy away from loss, love, mistakes, victimization, consequences, and death. It gives her stories a dose of reality while still managing to be a beautiful escape for the reader.

I loved the various horse activities that the book explores. It moves from illegal London harness racing to the topmost echelon of the dressage world and realistically depicts many finer points of riding and horsemanship. If Jojo Moyes isn't a rider, she researched the heck out of this! After I finished the book I looked up Le Cadre Noir and it truly is as amazing as she described.

On the con side, as an audiobook it gets hard to follow large chunks of dialogue that are in French. I could probably parse out the meaning if I were reading an actual book but the long spoken French scenes were disorienting and I lost the plot a little bit. I'm also skeptical that anyone could ride a horse from London to France, let alone an unaccompanied minor. Even when horses were the primary mode of transport riders stopped and got fresh horses because the trip was so hard on them. But that's the beauty of literature, you explore things that you wouldn't ordinarily consider. And one could also postulate that Sarah's horse was an exceptional horse capable of exceptional feats.

The narrator fit the story nicely and did a great job, too. (She apparently speaks French pretty well!)

No worries about using a credit on this one!

Another fantastic story from JoJo Moyes

This may be my favorite story yet. The characters were compelling. The story captured my heart. Excellent narration.

This book was redeemed a bit in the end.

I almost gave up on this book several times. The characters are not likable and found myself frustrated with them often. Also not fond of the narrator. I will not seek out her other works as I often do after listening to a narrator for the first time. If not for the ending two stars are what I feel the book would merit.

Wonderful wonderful story

Great characters, good drama interesting story all make this book a winner. Absolutely a great read especially for the horse addicted.