The Horseman

By: Tim Pears

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

1911. In a forgotten valley on the Devon-Somerset border, the seasons unfold, marked only by the rituals of the farming calendar. Twelve-year-old Leopold Sercombe skips school to help his father, a carter. Skinny and pale, Leo dreams of a job on the estate's stud farm. He is breaking a colt for his father when a boy dressed in a Homburg, breeches and riding boots appears.

Peering under the stranger's hat, he discovers Miss Charlotte, the Master's daughter. And so begins a friendship between the children, bound by a deep love of horses but divided by rigid social boundaries - boundaries that become increasingly difficult to navigate as they approach adolescence.

©2017 Tim Pears (P)2018 Isis Publishing Ltd

Engaging

Fascinating when I could understand the narrator's heavy brogue. It added character but subtracted some of the narrative even when replayed. Just too heavily accented for me to get.

Wonderful tale, beautifully narrated

This story about a carter's son -- an Owen Meany sort of character-- on a turn of the century (19th) West Country estate is beautifully narrated.

Dialogue between characters is difficult to understand.

The narrator is easily understood, but some of the deeply accented dialogue is difficult to follow. Fun story.