The Mare

By: Mary Gaitskill

Narrated by: Kyla Garcia, Christa Lewis, Sean Pratt, Nicol Zanzarella

Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of Veronica, a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction, comes Mary Gaitskill's most poignant and powerful work yet: the story of a Dominican girl, the white woman who introduces her to riding, and the horse who changes everything for her.

Velveteen Vargas is an 11-year-old from Brooklyn who is granted a summer vacation in the country, courtesy of the nonprofit Fresh Air Fund. Her host family is a couple in upstate New York: Ginger, a failed artist on the fringe of Alcoholics Anonymous; and Paul, an academic who wonders what it will mean to "make a difference" in such a contrived situation. Here we see the couple's changing relationship with Velvet over the course of several years as well as Velvet's powerful encounter with the horses at the stable down the road, as Gaitskill weaves together Velvet's vital inner-city community and the privileged country world of Ginger and Paul.

The timeless story of a girl and a horse is joined with the story of people from different races and socioeconomic backgrounds trying to meet one another honestly. It is a novel that is raw, striking, and completely original.

©2015 Mary Gaitskill (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Four excellent narrators tell Velvet's story through various points of view in alternating chapters. Each narrator perfectly defines the complexities of the character being portrayed, while showing different sides of Velvet - often not flattering." (AudioFile)

Awesome

I love this book! The characters are so real that when the book ended I kept thinking about them and wondering what they were doing in their lives. I think that's the best compliment one can give an author when they create a world that so real we feel like we're missing out because we don't know what's happening in it.

Wonderful

This was a beautifully written book. Narration superb. I do not usually write reviews but this was worth letting others know

Let the Mare Teach You

I actually really liked this book, even though I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I think the ending was just right.

The premise is that there is a program where inner city children get to go for a summer vacation with families who sign up. Of course, the child has problems (life) and the families (both) have problems (life). But the summer family lives next to a stable, and there is a horse that the girl is attracted to, the horse has the most problems of all. The Mare becomes her own character, and at times symbolizes all of the women in the story.

How can this possibly end good for this child? Well, it is not a perfect world, and there are no perfect answers, but sometimes there are perfect moments, and sometimes we can learn quite a bit about our sanctimonious ways by reading a novel. Well done.

Not thrilled

This book was so-so, with a very unsatisfactory ending. The voice of ginger was so vapid and syrupy I could barely stand listening to it. And I like most things

Overall it was a good story.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Mare to be better than the print version?

I usually always enjoy the audio edition of a book more than the print version.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The author repeated herself way too often. Andn I found it made the character of Velvet unbelievable after a while -- she repeated her same thoughts over and over and she also changed her mind too many times, she and Ginger both. It became tiresome and predictable. In the end I was waiting for some action while they were forever going over and over what they should do.

Give These Characters a Swift Punch in the Face!

Any additional comments?

As someone who loved horse stories of all varieties as a kid, I was eager to listen to this retelling of "National Velvet." But the novel is a misstep. All of the characters were unpalatable, perhaps most so the heroine, Velvet, who is an unqualified brat.

That said, the book has its moments, and its narrators went above and beyond. They gave the book life, even if the author did not. The woman who read Ginger should get an award.

But unless you want to spend hours with your hands balled into fists, wishing you could punch characters who are infuriatingly obtuse, unthankful, or downright crazy, I'd suggest you stay away from this book.

Have you ever wondered about the "other" people

What did you love best about The Mare?

I am an old curmudgeon. I have lived through many stages (including combat). I never, ever cry...not ever.
I cried listening to this book.
I am buying several copies to give away.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Mare?

there are too many to describe

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Velvet

If you could take any character from The Mare out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Velvet. She could explain a lot to me.

Connections

This was a touching story about a young adolescent, inner city girl finding strength and connection in her relationship with a mare. Beautifully narrated, full of feeling, raw in its truthful depiction of life.

I highly recommend this book to all ages.

Horse people should enjoy this.

The horse /human relationships are accurate. Interesting comparison of 2 different worlds and the power of the equine bond. Very well written, but I'm extremely disappointed in the ending.

A story that encompasses much more then a Horse

The book kept my interest , however, I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE AT TIMES with the racial profiling, as I saw it. Perhaps, it was overdone, or I am overly intolerant of racial differences. The enemy in the story seemed to be the race of the girl in the story. Her neighborhood and school prove to be dangerous, but even more so, was her home life . When she was delivered through a fresh air program to a white town, things begin to go better for the girl, until the few white prejudiced people cause minor problems, but nothing compared to her mother who reaches out and brings her back to the inner city because of her distrust of the white people. Yet all of this is told as an underlying part of the story. Am I just a white person who doesn't want to acknowledge that these problems with racial differences still exist?