Book Review: Horseplay

2 out of 3 apples: Will read another book by this author.

Horseplay, a novel by Judy Reene Singer was an entertaining, quick read. While it has neither the meter nor plot of great literature, it has a campier goal in mind. It is a pleasant, light hearted diversion; a spring hack down the road instead of a precision dressage test perhaps.

The novel’s protagonist, Judy Van Brunt leaves her cheating husband and a ho-hum life behind in exchange for a new start as a working student in an Olympic calaber dressage barn. Although the likelihood of a thirty-something who barely knows how to ask for a walk-canter transition being taken in as a student at a barn of that level is slim, Van Brunt’s ignorance in the fancy shmancy world of dressage, the German accented trainers and hoi poloi society provide an amusing juxtaposition and a needed device for explaining horse terms to non horse readers.

At times it is a bit repetitive and spends too much time trying to turn a clever phrase. However, by the middle of the book the author really hits her strike with the banter between the grooms, students and police as they investigate a murder at the barn. Everything from a daily diet of cheese omelets to a knife wielding Swedish chef are held up as prime suspects and I was laughing out loud. Horseplay is worth a stop. Chic lit + dressage barn for the next rainy day.

Tags: book review, horseplay