Mare

The story of a horse and the woman who loves her-a lively first novel of not-daughters and non-mothers; animals and animal bodies; and how we find freedom, care, and community in unexpected places. For a long time, a woman lives with her husband and their dog. She teaches an online class about children's books and plods away at a book of her own. Then the dog dies, and a doctor's visit reveals that she isn't able to have children, even if she wanted to. When an opportunity to lease a mare part-time comes her way, it seems like the ideal arrangement and the fulfillment of a childhood wish-perhaps even something to fill the emptiness, diagnosable and otherwise, that she has begun to feel. She has no problem sharing; she shares a garden with the children next door and chores with her husband. The horse will be something to care for, just two days a week, without getting in too deep. But as she takes up riding lessons, faces mounting medical bills, and walks and brushes and dreams of the horse, her affection starts to become all-consuming. Time spent with the mare casts a light on the rest of her responsibilities and relationships, ultimately forcing her to confront what it means to love a being who does not belong to her. With tender humor and insight, Emily Haworth-Booth's Mare radiates life and feeling-and introduces an irresistible literary voice.

Emily Haworth-Booth teaches at the Royal Drawing School and is an illustrator, a graphic novelist, and a children's author of three books for children: The King Who Banned the Dark (short-listed for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, and the Klaus Flugge Prize), The Last Tree, and Protest! Mare is her debut book for adults. She lives in Devon with her husband, dog, and several horses.