If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Merry Whiteford (Author) "IN 1974, SKEETER, PIG, LUCKY, AND I lived with Lily and Kap Thompson at 313 South Beech Street, almost on the corner of East Genesee,..." (more)
Key Phrases: poison bottle, little salon, Lallo Armitrage, Ted Rudway, Tom Bailey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Whiteford weaves a tale of self-discovery in this affecting story of a young girl growing up in upstate New York during the 1970s. Star Hennessy's mother, Mildred, is an alcoholic prostitute who has long since lost her hold on reality, relinquishing Star and her brother, Lucky, to a strict foster home that they share with two other emotionally scarred orphan boys, Pig and Skeeter. Star is a typical teenager in many respects, but she and her three companions are street smart and world weary, facing the harsh realities of their dubious social status with a bravado incongruous with their adolescence and a touching loyalty to each other. At 16, Star finds solace in poetry, but despite her intelligence and her sophistication about her mother's profession, she becomes pregnant by Pig. This cataclysm leads her to new insights about her background, as well as a pivotal decision about the direction of her life. Star's narrative voice is strong, but her patience with and sympathy for her feckless mother strain credulity, and many of the events in this sentimentalized portrait of a sensitive girl battling for a decent life are improbable. Star's redemption and fledgling career as a poet could be inspiring to teenagers, however, and this uplifting novel could find a home on the YA shelf.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Star is an engaging narrator....Her story is sad and depressing and uplifting aand inspiring all at the same time." -- Richmond Post-Dispatch

"Star is an engaging narrator....Her story is sad and depressing and uplifting and inspiring all at the same time." -- Richmond Post-Dispatch

... a bittersweet and powerful coming-of-age story ... Ms. Whiteford is truly spellbinding and a writer to watch. -- Word Museum Reviews

If Wishes Were Horses enlightens and entertains . . . A great read that will stay with you forever. -- Kathleen Brehony

Insightful, witty ... a work of prose that has a poetry all its own. I can't recommend it highly enough. -- The Compulsive Reader

Rating: Must Read! ... If Wishes Were Horses is a book that you won’t soon forget, nor should you. -- Bookreview.com

Talented author Merry Whiteford explores the world of foster children in this tale ... beautifully rendered ... powerful ... superbly constructed. -- Blue Iris Journal

The language at times is absolutely exquisite... [in] this painful but glorious story. -- The Best Reviews

Whiteford has drawn a sympathetic but refreshingly unromantic portrait of [this] young woman. -- Hampton Roads Monthly

Written with fierce grace ... a coming-of-age story in which innocence contends with rage, and loss with hard-earned gain. -- Nicholas Delbanco

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (March 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031230188X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312301880
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,284,287 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartbreakingly Wonderful Read, March 24, 2003

By A Customer

If Wishes Were Horses is an absolutely beautiful story of difficult, sometimes tragic, relationships -- and the grace that can come from them. The central character copes with unspeakable loss, yet her toughness and street smarts are not what allows her to triumph in the end, as is so often the case in a coming of age novel; instead, the author deftly and magically creates a young woman whose sensitivity, intelligence, and generosity of spirit win us over. Merry Whiteford does not stick to cliches and worn notions about good parenting and healthy human development--she is willing to explore the gray areas of relationships that make life rich, complex, and real. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons within it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another must-read from Whiteford, March 16, 2003

By A Customer

Merry Whiteford is a born storyteller. Her characters are so richly drawn that they grab hold of you, pull you gladly into their world, and keep you caring for them long after you've finished the final page. Nowhere is this more evident than in If Wishes Were Horses. It's a compelling, poignant story of tragedy and redemption that solidifies Whiteford's place in the top echelon of fiction writers. I eagerly await her next novel!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncommon Love, May 15, 2003

By	Ron Messerich (Richmond, KY USA) - See all my reviews

If Wishes Were Horses is about a teen-age girl, but it is a novel for everyone. The struggles are common human problems, but they are addressed with uncommon insight and care. The story is narrated by Star, a sixteen year girl living in a foster home with her brother and two other teenage boys. Star's mother is a prostitute, an alcoholic and an ex-con. She visits her children in foster care occasionally, and Star visits her mother in flashbacks. These visits reveal the embarrassment and abuse Star has suffered through her mother's neglect. They are more then sufficient to justify Star's total rejection of her mother, but this is not where the story goes. Star is resolute in her efforts to maintain her affection for her mother, and her efforts are rendered credible by Star's narrative. Star shows us how she sees her mother and other people in her life. We are spared pseudo-psychological analyses; instead we read of what Star sees in the people around her--their acts, their gestures, their comments. In these descriptions the affections of people who have been hit hard by life or lost their grip on life peek through. Such affection could be easily overlooked but is not. Star sees the love in her mother, and, through her poetic gifts she allows us to see it too. Star's ability to see those around her with generosity and honesty is at the heart of the story, and at the heart of the reader's admiration for her.
The reader, I think, will come to admire Star but will not see her as too good to be true. The plot is built around her slightly outlaw life with the other foster children and her unwanted pregnancy. Her efforts to solve the problems created by the pregnancy drive the plot and keep one wondering how she will resolve the situation. Her attempts at resolution lead to more problems that a less naive person might well have avoided. Star's gift is to see the capacity for love and affection in the midst of weakness and tragedy, and she applies that gift to herself as well.
Merry Whiteford has written an excellent novel. Star and her mother are characters who will linger with you. I find myself returning to the closing scenes of the novel with a fondness for mother and daughter and for what they can still mean to each other.