HORSE by Geraldine Brooks

It’s ironic that a book about a fast horse proceeds at a slow trot rather than a gallop.  It does gather speed in the home stretch but not enough.  Part of my problem is that I have zero interest in art and not much more in horses, although, granted, this novel has deeper themes at work as well.  Two timelines address the history of a real-life thoroughbred named Lexington who raced in the 1850s.  Jarret is the young slave whom the author conjures up as the only person whom Lexington really trusts.  In the modern-day story, Jess (a white woman) mistakes Theo (a black man) for a bike thief, but they eventually both become professionally interested in Lexington’s story and fall in love.  Racism figures largely in both timelines, and I have to admit that I was more drawn to Jess and Theo’s story, because I was so dreading that Jarret and Lexington’s would end tragically.  The nineteenth century timeline, however, is more seamless.  The 21^st century story tries to account for the whereabouts and ownership transfers of several paintings.  I could not keep the paintings straight, much less their convoluted history.  There is actually a minor third timeline in the 1950s that follows an art curator, and I felt that the author was trying to connect too many dots.  Geraldine Brooks is a terrific writer, but this book does not rank high on my list of her novels.  Putting it down was too easy, and picking it back up was not something I particularly looked forward to.