GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES
Eliza Jane Brazier
400 pages
Berkley
published June 6, 2023
About the book
Set in the glamorous, competitive world of showjumping, a novel about the girls who ride, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death at a horse show…from the author of Good Rich People.
When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses.
She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.
It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romance and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.
Before the summer is over, lies will turn lethal, accidents will happen, and someone will end up dead.
My Review
I loved Good Rich People. I thought it was a wild ride about rich people and their privilege when it goes to extremes. Campy and over the top. Girls and Their Horses is a little less wild, but equally enjoyable. While one of my besties was really into horses growing up and actually owns a couple now, I know she was not part of this cut throat competition world. It reminds me a little of all I’ve ever read about Moms and the pageant world. These aren’t just ordinary girls and their horses, but the high stakes world where the girls that compete also train together and their Moms may want it more for them than they do.
The catch in this one is you know that someone is dead, but you don’t know who. Detective Perez is interviewing the staff, owner and families that work at and use the stable. Her chapters are interspersed in the story and are interviews that start to shed light on what went down and are set in the present. Then there are flashbacks to the events unfolding in the past. It’s a clever set up that works well for the plot. We get a chance to meet all the players, and there are a lot of them, and slowly learn about the characters, the stables and what happened. And with all the characters I was constantly changing my guess on not only who was dead but who killed them and why. I always like when I am kept guessing.
By no means is everyone likable and as I read, my thoughts on each characters changed as I learned their secrets and motivations. It’s a complex story that not only showcases horses and competition Moms, but friendships and sibling rivalry. While the plot is definitely driven by the death, there is deep characters that are explored and exploited. There was never a lull in the pace and I wanted to know more about these characters from the start.
While this is a lot tamer than her last book, I really liked it.
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