I've never been horse crazy. I would never have picked up this book on my own. But I was in a cozy independent bookstore in Solvang, CA, Ivanhoe nearly finished, facing the prospect of a day of flying without a book (my definition of hell). I couldn't think of anything in particular I wanted, so I asked one of the employees. We talked books for about half an hour and I ended up with this and another book I'm still reading (to be blogged about later).The Hearts of Horses takes place in Oregon during WWI. Martha is a broncobuster, traveling around the state in search of the Wild West of her books, offering to break horses for local ranches. Most of the young men who would ordinarily be performing this service are off in the trenches of France. Martha is more of a horse whisperer, breaking horses gently, without undue force, or really much force at all. There is also, of course, a bit of romance. Through Martha we meet a number of people in a rural Oregon county. Similarly to Olive Kitteridge, Martha is the glue that holds these stories together (although this is clearly written as a novel, not short stories).
The story was interesting enough, but what really intrigued me were the details of WWI. Men who were too old to fight signed on as "four minute men," selling liberty bonds at movies. Women planted liberty gardens. Sacrifice was assumed. We are currently in the middle of a war, have been for years, and sacrifice is anything but assumed. Is it because our enemy is less than visible? I wonder sometimes if there even is an enemy beyond our own foolish pride. Another thing that struck me was the similarities in how the perceived enemy at home is treated. German-Americans were shunned in both world wars, Japanese interred in WWII. Even though much of the public doesn't support the war, they certainly seem to support the anti-Muslim sentiment. I guess it's necessary to put a face to blame.
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