Customer Reviews

The Horse from the Sea

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Nora Donovan is a 14-year-old Irish lass whose story takes place in 1588. The thing she loves most is being with the wild mountain ponies. Throughout the village, Nora is well known for spending more time with the ponies than with humans.

The story quickly shifts from a grand party at Aughnanure Castle to a despairing scene at the beach where a Spanish ship has wrecked. Not much survived from the ship, but Nora found the biggest prize: a tall, Andalusian stallion. She also finds something else... a drowning sailor from the wrecked ship. Nora is forced into deciding on something hard. If she helps this young, stranded sailor, how much danger is she putting herself into? Even her own family is afraid of the Spanish sailors. By telling them what she found, she would be endangering her entire family's safety. So she keeps it all a secret.

The story soon melts into a huge, furtive journey that Nora did not plan on taking. It involves some scheming, escaping, sword-fighting, and especially, it entails horse riding.

One thing to mention: Throughout the book, Nora's family and other villagers talk of "little green fairies" and a "sea god" and other similar, minor, old Irish beliefs. To me, these references somewhat enhanced the story to make it seem more true to that time period. Also, you might learn a few new Irish words!

Overall, it was an exhilarating tale that I enjoyed. Recommended for ages 10-15.