A horse called Darley was born on a farm in Kentucky a decade before the Civil War; under the name Lexington, he broke the world record for speed and left an imprint on the world of American horse racing that persists to this very day.
I was never a horse girl, but in elementary school I had a phase in which I read a great deal of Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley. As such, I’ve probably seen about four horses close up throughout my life, but I’m always ready for a good horse story, and the tale of Lexington, a half blind stallion who changed American horse racing forever, is one.
Wickens weaves the story of Lexington with the turbulent times he lived through. Horse racing in the South was reaching a peak at the time of his career, and the days on which he raced could bring New Orleans to a standstill. Later on, the Civil War reaches out to touch even the idyllic farm where he lived as a stud stallion when a violent band of guerillas repeatedly raid it. The author’s clear adoration of horses and the intensity with which she tells the story had me racing through the book.
However, I did wonder if the story got a little disjointed at times. The Civil War section, while fascinating, has more to do with Lexington’s children than with him, and he doesn’t make much of an appearance. You rather feel that the colorful guerillas overshadow the horses. And then we lurch forward in time to the story of his skeleton – a convoluted one, to be sure, but it left me feeling a little like I was careening through so many exhibits that in places you lose sight of Lexington himself. But it all makes such a rollicking yarn that you can’t really complain.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
