The story of a horse and the woman who loves her—a lively first novel of not-daughters and non-mothers; animals and animal bodies; and how we find freedom, care, and community in unexpected places.
For a long time, a woman lives with her husband and their dog. She teaches an online class about children’s books and plods away at a book of her own. Then the dog dies, and a doctor’s visit reveals that she isn’t able to have children, even if she wanted to.
When an opportunity to lease a mare part-time comes her way, it seems like the ideal arrangement and the fulfillment of a childhood wish—perhaps even something to fill the emptiness, diagnosable and otherwise, that she has begun to feel. She has no problem sharing; she shares a garden with the children next door and chores with her husband. The horse will be something to care for, just two days a week, without getting in too deep.
But as she takes up riding lessons, faces mounting medical bills, and walks and brushes and dreams of the horse, her affection starts to become all-consuming. Time spent with the mare casts a light on the rest of her responsibilities and relationships, ultimately forcing her to confront what it means to love a being who does not belong to her. With tender humor and insight, Emily Haworth-Booth’s Mare radiates life and feeling—and introduces an irresistible literary voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
For a long time, a woman lives with her husband and their dog. She teaches an online class about children’s books and plods away at a book of her own. Then the dog dies, and a doctor’s visit reveals that she isn’t able to have children, even if she wanted to.
When an opportunity to lease a mare part-time comes her way, it seems like the ideal arrangement and the fulfillment of a childhood wish—perhaps even something to fill the emptiness, diagnosable and otherwise, that she has begun to feel. She has no problem sharing; she shares a garden with the children next door and chores with her husband. The horse will be something to care for, just two days a week, without getting in too deep.
But as she takes up riding lessons, faces mounting medical bills, and walks and brushes and dreams of the horse, her affection starts to become all-consuming. Time spent with the mare casts a light on the rest of her responsibilities and relationships, ultimately forcing her to confront what it means to love a being who does not belong to her. With tender humor and insight, Emily Haworth-Booth’s Mare radiates life and feeling—and introduces an irresistible literary voice.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Warm and reflective, a novel that exists beautifully outside of human relationships, coming to rest instead on the love of a horse, and the vulnerability and strength of the animal and human body both." - Amina Cain
"I read Mare voraciously, ignoring my life. Deeply human and profoundly funny, it has the wisdom held by the best prose and the extra insight that comes with sorrow. Emily Haworth-Booth understands that grief is a lonesome, many-chambered thing; that obsessive love can rescript a life; that there is solace in duty and care. An incandescent debut-bare and clean and artful. It enters the soul." - Claudia Dey
"Gentle and thoughtful... For fans of Maggie Nelson, horses, and those who feel they aren't following the expected path or hitting the expected milestones as they age." - Adelaide Faith
"The path of love's arrow in Mare is as eccentric as it is intense, decisive and enchanting. Every dappled page reads at once as poetic, persuasive and playful. A wonderful, wonderful novel!" - Rivka Galchen
"What a gorgeous writer. The world needs beauty and wit and fearlessness. And a sense of fun. Here they are." - Peter Heller
"With exquisite grace, warmth, and wisdom, Emily Haworth-Booth has crafted a profound meditation on the human-animal bond that gives these life-changing relationships the gravity they deserve and gently unsettles our assumptions about mothering, intimacy, and care-work. This delightful debut is a timely reminder that life offers many surprising ways to love and be loved, to be remade after loss, and transformed through devotion to another being. Like the creature at its heart, Mare is a gift, and a revelation." - Madelaine Lucas
"Emily Haworth-Booth writes the heartbreak of a body, of the world, of caring, with immense tenderness and humor. I loved the peripheries of solitude and communion traced in this wild, melancholy, marvelous novel." - Ayşegül Savaş
"Mare is part love letter, part poetry, part guidebook on how to ride a horse, how to care for others, and how to be a woman in the world. This novel is a tender and refreshing exploration of loving without ownership. Meditative, then marvelously startling in parts. With Emily Haworth-Booth at the reins (sorry), you'll find yourself happy to go along for the ride." - Katie Yee
"I read Mare voraciously, ignoring my life. Deeply human and profoundly funny, it has the wisdom held by the best prose and the extra insight that comes with sorrow. Emily Haworth-Booth understands that grief is a lonesome, many-chambered thing; that obsessive love can rescript a life; that there is solace in duty and care. An incandescent debut-bare and clean and artful. It enters the soul." - Claudia Dey
"Gentle and thoughtful... For fans of Maggie Nelson, horses, and those who feel they aren't following the expected path or hitting the expected milestones as they age." - Adelaide Faith
"The path of love's arrow in Mare is as eccentric as it is intense, decisive and enchanting. Every dappled page reads at once as poetic, persuasive and playful. A wonderful, wonderful novel!" - Rivka Galchen
"What a gorgeous writer. The world needs beauty and wit and fearlessness. And a sense of fun. Here they are." - Peter Heller
"With exquisite grace, warmth, and wisdom, Emily Haworth-Booth has crafted a profound meditation on the human-animal bond that gives these life-changing relationships the gravity they deserve and gently unsettles our assumptions about mothering, intimacy, and care-work. This delightful debut is a timely reminder that life offers many surprising ways to love and be loved, to be remade after loss, and transformed through devotion to another being. Like the creature at its heart, Mare is a gift, and a revelation." - Madelaine Lucas
"Emily Haworth-Booth writes the heartbreak of a body, of the world, of caring, with immense tenderness and humor. I loved the peripheries of solitude and communion traced in this wild, melancholy, marvelous novel." - Ayşegül Savaş
"Mare is part love letter, part poetry, part guidebook on how to ride a horse, how to care for others, and how to be a woman in the world. This novel is a tender and refreshing exploration of loving without ownership. Meditative, then marvelously startling in parts. With Emily Haworth-Booth at the reins (sorry), you'll find yourself happy to go along for the ride." - Katie Yee
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