The Horse from the Sea [Hardcover]

Victoria Holmes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2005 | Age Level: 10 and up

A ship washed ashore . . .

When fourteen-year-old Nora Donovan hears that Spanish soldiers may be sailing near the west coast of Ireland, she never expects that one of their ships will actually crash on the shore next to her home. Helping to clear the wreckage, Nora discovers a beautiful white stallion, injured and lost. Nora boldly leads the horse to a nearby cave and nurses him back to health.

But hiding in the cave is one of the soldiers. He's also injured, very young, and wanted by the English army. Nora wants to help the boy get home safely, but she'll have to risk everything -- including the magnificent stallion.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9–Nora Donovan, 14, doesn't fit the mold of a proper young lady, preferring the company of wild ponies to that of people. The atmosphere is tense in 16th-century Ireland because the British are persecuting Catholics and the Spanish are sending soldiers to defend Catholicism. During a terrible storm, a ship from the Armada wrecks near Nora's village and she rescues a young Spanish sailor and an Andalusian stallion. She hides them both in a cave and tries to figure out how to get José back to Spain. Thinking that her clan leader will help, she takes José to the man's castle. However, once they arrive, he is claimed as a prisoner and Lir is taken for a war horse. After rescuing them both, Nora eventually finds a way to help her friend get home and then sets Lir free to run with the wild ponies. An author's note explains that the Connemara pony is descended from these shipwrecked stallions. Readers who want anything and everything to do with horses will enjoy this story and its myriad equine details, but others may feel bogged down. The main characters are not well developed and it is difficult to maintain interest in them. The freedom Nora enjoys does not seem believable and the plot is predictable. Jane Yolen's The Queen's Own Fool (Philomel, 2000), set during the same time period, has stronger characters.–Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Shy, dreamy Nora adores horses and never misses a chance to frolic with the wild ponies that run near her family's coastal village in western Ireland. Meanwhile, political tensions caused by occupying English soldiers run high, and they reach a fever pitch after a Spanish galleon is shipwrecked near the village. It's 1588, and as bitter enemies of Spain, the English decree that any Irish person giving aid to Spanish survivors will be treated as a traitor. How can Nora turn her back on a young Spanish sailor needing help, never mind a beautiful stallion that was also on the ship? Hair-raising escapades follow in rapid succession after she boldly decides to help the survivors. With rich historical detail that never sounds textbookish, Holmes blends strong plot, suspense, and appealing characters into a rousing high-adventure horse story. Anne O'Malley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060520280
• ISBN-13: 978-0060520281
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written story by Victoria Holmes, January 21, 2006

By 

P. Hardy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Horse from the Sea (Hardcover)

The Horse From the sea, is a beautifully written story by Victoria Holmes. The way the story is written really draws you into the world of Ireland and Nora love for horses. The description of Horse behavior is excellently drawn out, making envisioning the animal very easy. The story line for the book was well thought out and thankfully didn't turn out to be another "young adventurous girl defies her family to save [insert objects/person here]" scenario, because I wouldn't have read it otherwise.



The chapters are not too lengthy to my great delight and explain pretty much what they were meant to do without losing the focus on the certain moment. The large variety of characters, spanning from the Irish, Spanish, and English Army characters were very fascinating in the term of the word. None of them ever felt dull or boring, or just some plot device to move Nora, Jose, and Lir's story along through the book. Jose was probably the most interesting male character in this story.



He lacked the usual stereotypical male dominance, arrogance, and self-assured personality I've seen in many male characters in books. The emotion of the story can be felt near the very end of the book, when Jose, Lir and Nora part ways once the objective is achieved. But all in all, The Horse from the sea is an enjoyable read I would recommend to anyone.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, March 4, 2008

By 

S. Beckhorn (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Horse from the Sea (Paperback)

Holmes delivers a gripping journey into 16th century Ireland and the history of the Connemara pony. One can almost smell seaweed, bracken, and the sweet breath of the beautiful Spanish horse washed up on the shore--soon to mingle his blood with that of the indomitable native mountain ponies. Cheers for the courage of common little crofter's daughter, Nora, in defying fear and Brittish tyranny in order to try to save the young Catholic nobleman, Jose, and the magnificent stallion, Lir; cheers as well for the message of letting go when we must. The reader is left hoping that Nora, Jose, Lir (and his offsping) might meet again!

Susan Williams Beckhorn, author of Wind Rider, Harper Collins 2006

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Horse from the Sea - A book about history and adventure, February 13, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Horse from the Sea (Paperback)

This book's story line is about a girl who finds a Spanish warhorse and rescues a Spanish sailor named Jose. Her name is Nora and she spends her time riding wild mountain ponies and mostly a wild pony named Dunlin. The stallion is named Lir. Nora lives in Ireland and looks like it too. She wears a red cloak.

Victoria Holmes, the author, grew up on a farm in England and learned how to ride ponies at the age of two. While she is not riding she is either reading or writing her own books. Today she is working as a Children's book editor. Victoria Holmes writes her books about horses and things like that. She is a very good author.

I think this book is very well written because the author puts in a lot of interesting details. The author keeps her readers hooked for a long time because she keeps her story very exiting. I also like this novel because it's the only one like it that I've ever read. This book is the third best book I have ever read.

You should read this book because it is very exhilarating and it is full of action and suspense. It gives you all kinds of feelings and you want to clench your fists or even cry. I loved it and I'm looking forward to reading others just like it in the future.