The other is told in third person and switches back and forth between Rory’s narrative and that of Vivian Price, the bored and troubled daughter of a movie star who lives in a mansion down the Canyon from Rory. Rory became a mostly absent parent as she perused a storied career as a photojournalist around the world, leaving Charlotte to be raised by Gus in Wyoming. One is a first-person account from Rory’s daughter Charlotte as she tries to unravel her mother’s life. The horses hold Kept Animals’ many characters and intricate plot together to form one cohesive if twisting narrative. The novelist pulls off this impressive tightrope dance by ensuring her readers know what is happening in the big horse scenes and including just enough technical equestrian details to keep it both authentic and accurate. While competitions, clinics, and elite show barns are part of the story, it also includes the callus forming work of breeding, training, and caring for horses.
Three-day evening and sport horses are central to the novel, and Milliken paints rich images of the sport’s culture and the lives of those who live it. Rory rides among them and competes on Chaparral, her athletic jumper with a big heart. She is the stepdaughter of Gus, the manager of the large boarding and training facility in the Canyon that caters to high-end equestrians and horse owners. (Apr.The protagonist, Rory Ramos, is a barn hand and an exercise rider. Milliken’s electric tale keenly documents the power of first love and the lingering hurt of trauma. Her attention to details of place and time, as well as the casual cruelties those of privilege can inflict on those who have less, provide astute undercurrents to the propulsive plot. Changing perspective throughout, Milliken excels at capturing each character’s unique voice and perspective-particularly Rory’s guarded quietness and Vivian’s performed jadedness. In a separate narrative, Rory’s daughter, Charlie, must untangle what actually happened between the group of friends 22 years earlier. But as wildfire season approaches, tensions rise among Rory and Vivian, until one fateful night changes Rory forever. After Gus inadvertently causes a car accident that kills the son of a famous actor who lives nearby, Rory becomes close with Vivian Price, the actor’s troubled older daughter, who begins carrying on a secret romantic relationship with Rory while dating June’s twin brother, Wade. Through the job she becomes friends with June Fisk, the daughter of a rich neighbor who comes for riding lessons, sparking feelings that make Rory confront her own sexuality. In 1993, 15-year-old Rory Ramos is a talented horseback rider working at Leaning Rock Ranch alongside her stepfather, Gus. In Milliken’s moving debut, a California ranch becomes the stage for tense conflicts of class and family.
0 kommentar(er)
