Horse

This 2022 novel from Pulitzer Prize winning author Brooks spans three timelines as she delves into the true story of Lexington, one of the greatest racehorses in US history. In 1850 Kentucky, Jarret, an enslaved groom, bonds with the bay foal under his care oer the years against the backdrop of the Civil War, while an artist becomes known for his paintings of the racehorse. In 1954 New York City, a gallery owner comes across a mysterious nineteenth-century equestrian painting. In 2019 Washington, DC, a Smithsonian scientist and an art historian work to unearth the lost history and the Black men behind Lexington’s wins. After reading Brooks’s more recent memoir Memorial Days, I was intrigued by her many references to working on Horse in those pages.