Horse by Geraldine Brooks: Based on the historical account of a champion racehorse of the 1850s, Brooks gives the reader a lot more in this dual time story. The two Black protagonists—one the enslaved groom whose devotion to the horse of the title is both heartbreaking and heartwarming; the other a modern-day doctoral student finding his dissertation topic when he uncovers a painting of a thoroughbred in his neighbor’s trash. Brooks looks hard at the racism of the pre-Civil War south and then turns her focus to the racism of modern America. It is a hard book to put down and the ending is a shocker.

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