I was recently contacted about reading and reviewing Sweetbriars: Leaving the City by Hollie Anne Marsh.  Who can refuse a horse book, really?  The first in the series, Sweetbriars: Leaving the City is an exploration of a horsey family moving to their dream property in the country.  Here they will be able to keep their horses and hopefully turn the facility into a livery and riding school.

Twelve year old Cate Sullivan is the main character in this story.  Although she is excited about the family’s move, she is devastated to leave behind her close circle of friends.  She has grown up with these girls and cannot imagine feeling comfortable without her best friend Beth – or her instructor friend Bridget!  Still, Cate knows the move is good for the family and she is excited that her instructor mother will be able to set up the new property Sweetbriars for clients and offer riding lessons.

Cate and her older brother Alex are keen riders and very knowledgeable.  That isn’t surprising, considering the fact that their mother is an accomplished rider and instructor.  Alex is a keen show jumper whilst Cate enjoys success with showing her beautiful palomino mare, Odette.  The two are excited to discover incredible facilities at Sweetbriars and can only hope that the house is good enough for their parents to want the whole farm!

It isn’t too long before the family has bought the property and is preparing for the move.  As the Sullivan family go through the process of moving, setting up the farm, meeting the locals and adjusting to country life, the reader gets to explore this through Cate’s eyes.

Sweetbriars: Leaving the City is highly horse focused and has a lot of educational information.  The way it is provided is woven easily throughout the story and the reader gets to learn about many facets of horses.  There is showing, dressage, show jumping, horse care, nutrition and much more.  It’s an entertaining read whilst also highly educational.  As an added bonus, there is also a glossary of terms at the end of the book.

Twelve year old Cate battles through disappointments as well as loneliness.  She has left her close friends and feels estranged at a new school.  Even Pony Club is different and she isn’t sure one of the instructor’s likes her at all.  And then her best friend Beth becomes distant.  Suddenly it seems to Cate that the move to Sweetbriars wasn’t a good thing at all.

Cate is determined not to complain when the rest of her family seems to be settling in well.  In fact, they are loving their new life, so she presses on.  In time the pre-teen develops new friends and learns things aren’t always as they appear.  She even discovers a new discipline that she hadn’t anticipated enjoying.  Sweetbriars: Leaving the City is a great introduction to this series.  It moves at a good pace, is sure to enthral horse fans, whilst also teaching them a few things.

Author – Hollie Anne Marsh
Fiction – middle grade / teen
In my library – as an eBook it is.

I was recently asked if I would be interested in reading a non fiction book to review on Equus Education.  A memoir, Ann Campanella’s Motherhood: Lost and Found focuses on fertility struggles, writing as an outlet, dealing with a parent battling Alzheimer’s and how horses can be a constant through all of life’s changes.

This book is an enlightening read that focuses greatly on family dynamics and individual relationships.  As Ann battled with her desire to be a mother and the inability to carry a baby full term, she also found life throwing many other struggles her way.  A father’s ailing health with prostate cancer, a mother’s gradual decline with dementia and the growing need to care for a mentally challenged brother.

Add to this a husband who is eagerly stepping into a new work role that takes up a lot of his time – and has him travelling all around the globe – and one would question where there may be time to raise a family.  And yet, as Ann moves into her mid and late thirties, she can’t help but feel the void of not being able to have a child.

Her passion for writing – and her skill at it – helps to fill the void.  Or at least, to address the negative feelings she is consumed by at times.  Her horse riding students and her own horse also bring joy to her life.  However, at times these too become overwhelming.  This is through the daily need to clean boxes, feed and also water the horses.

As the reader journeys through the at times chaotic events of her life, they learn a lot about Alzheimer’s as a disease.  They also discover the need for family members to pull together.  They have to support each other and give each other grace in trying times.  Horses are woven throughout the book.  This includes daily chores, the joy of competitions, sitting dressage tests and dealing with colic.  All explained through the eyes of someone who obviously knows and loves horses.

An added bonus for me toward the end of the book was Ann’s invitation to a local church.  It was lovely to see the way her family soon became part of a larger church family.  In spite of the many negative events that ran through this memoir, the poetic way she described things and just kept on pushing through gave a sense of hope for the future.  All was not lost.

Motherhood: Lost and Found is an apt name for this book.  It descriptively explores the loss of a motherhood figure for Ann and her desire to be a mother herself.  Highly recommended reading.

Author – Ann Campanella
Non Fiction – memoir
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.