Horse

A discarded painting in a junk pile; a skeleton in an attic; and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands; a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit; obsession; and injustice across American history Kentucky; 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war; an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night; he reunites with the stallion and his groom; very far from the glamor of any racetrack. New York City; 1954. Martha Jackson; a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters; becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance. Washington; DC; 2019. Jess; a Smithsonian scientist from Australia; and Theo; a Nigerian-American art historian; find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance; the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success. Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington; Horse is a novel of art and science; love and obsession; and our unfinished reckoning with racism.