Tim Pears’ The Horseman is the first in a trilogy of novels set in England’s West Country in the early 20th century. Starting in January 1911 and finishing in June 1912, the novel follows the daily life of young Leo Sercombe, the son of a carter who works on the estate of Lord Prideaux on the Devon-Somerset border. Leo has little interest in attending school, preferring to help his family with their work on the farm – and here he has gained a different kind of education: a knowledge of horses and an affinity with nature. Then one day, Leo meets Charlotte, Lord Prideaux’s daughter, and a friendship begins to form based on their shared love of horses.

There’s no doubt that The Horseman is a beautifully written novel, but I’m sorry to have to say that I didn’t enjoy it very much. I’m not necessarily the sort of reader who needs a very strong plot with lots of action on every page, but I do need at least a little bit of plot and this book didn’t seem to have any at all – just one description after another of various farming tasks. As the months go by and the seasons change we are given detailed accounts of grooming horses, gathering hay, ploughing fields, collecting eggs and anything else you can think of that takes place on a large country estate. I suppose it’s not quite true to say that absolutely nothing happens in the novel, because Leo is learning and growing all the time, but because there’s almost no conflict or drama in his life – until right at the very end of the book – I found it difficult to connect with him in any way.

I'm aware that other reviews of this book are overwhelmingly positive and I can see why, as it’s a lovely, gentle portrayal of a rural community in a time gone forever; unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right book for me.

An absorbing story about rural life in the early twentieth century.

A slow burner but very atmospheric. Keep reading as underneath the hypnotic calm all is not as it seems.
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An enjoyable read and I will be reading the rest of the series.

This novel read so much like a classic. It was informative about farming in days gone by, but it was slow-moving. My biggest regret was the cruelty to animals and birds that the novel described. I found that nauseating despite knowing it happened and possibly still happens. I'm staunchly against blood sports or any sort of animal cruelty. The gruesome images will stay with me. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing.

Thanks to net galley and the publishers.
A strange story line but a captivating glimpse of times gone by.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

This was an absorbing story based in the rural West Country in a time when mechanisation of farming was just beginning. Clearly shows the hardships of life in those times of the less well off and how children were just another employee and women held a subservient role.

This look at rural life at the start of the 20th century starts so slowly and contains so much detail about the minutiae of agriculture that it seems, at first, that the reader may be in for a dull read. However, the level of detail and the gentle pace soon become the pleasure of the book, leaving time to enjoy the landscape and the language of it. The story of Leo (the boy) a shy and almost silent child, son of a horseman and with a natural gift with those creatures is gently captivating, making the startling ending all the more shocking. Recommended.

This was my first time reading a book from Tim Pears and I found it very enjoyable. The story line was easy to follow and kept my attention. The central characters were likeable and easy to root for. I think that this book would be an easy read for many people and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and a hypnotic portrait of life in the West country. I enjoyed the book immensely an the story will live with me for a while.

This book takes you back in time to before motorization. To a time when life had a rhythm in tune with nature and the seasons. A slower pace of life. Where the order of things was known, everyone had a place and a purpose.

my life slowed down as I read this book. The detailed descriptions of the characters and their work. The animals around the farm, the harvest and year round activities required to accomplish it, the horses and the stable management. All beautifully and faultlessly described.

Some might find it a little slow but I found it a real bonus to have this way of life faithfully and accurately recorded right down to the correct names for pieces of the harness and horse conformation.

I found I cared about the characters and the animals and what happened to them and now I want to know what happened next!

To think that feudalism was alive and well in England just about 100 years ago! Loved this book for its nitty-gritty approach to the lives of those who made a living from the land and "their Lords and Masters". A fascinating book which kept me interested to the end. If you like a fascinating look into our recent way of life, go buy this book (and the rest of the series) and be engrossed and, I expect, repelled to the very last page.

Oh dearie me. This novel is set in the depths of the west Country in the early 20th century, so maybe I shouldn't have expected too much in the way of a plot, but my goodness, it was a long wait for anything to happen. I now know a lot more than is good for me about horses, tack, harvesting methods and the slowness of rural life. The book's language reflected the slowness of the lives depicted, and was lovely in places, but it really wasn't worth the time it took to read. Sorry, just didn't like this one.

Not my usual type of book but sometimes it's nice to settle down and immerse oneself in another time that has now been lost. A slow moving story but beautifully descriptive and evocative of the pre war era before the world changed. I liked the characters of the boy and girl and the fact that they were drawn together through a love of horses despite being from opposite poles of the social hierarchy. This is the first of a trilogy, I'm sure I will catch up with this pair again at some point.

Worthy and slow moving, the trope of the upper class young woman (12 years old, i guess that's a girl)and the lower class boy getting together over shared interest... in this case, horses just plays out without it felt to me there being much chemistry between them. Leo is not very attractive and the young daughter of the manse isn't much of a character. She saves his life, and his family is kicked off the land - and Leo breaks with his family, saying goodbye to the girl - we'll meet again ... I'm afraid this one missed me by.

‘The Horseman’ by Tim Pears is an account of the slow, meandering life on an estate farm in rural Devon. It is 1911 when, for modern readers, the sinking of the Titanic is not far away and the Great War looms. Two children, born into very different worlds, grow up not far apart; both have a strong love of horses. This novel is billed as a coming-of-age tale but it is also a description of rural farming methods.
Told in a month-by-month format, the seasons unfold in a remote Devon valley where the passing of time is marked by the weather and the tasks undertaken on the farm. There is a long list of characters and at the beginning I confused who was who, but gradually they settled into their roles. Leopold Sercombe is the youngest son of the master carter working on the tenant farm of a large estate. He longs to escape school every day to run home and help his father with the horses; these are working animals, cart horses and cobs, they are almost characters. We are there as Noble gives birth; as Leo’s father shares one of the secrets of his trade, the use of dried tansy to give his horses a glossy coat; and the day Leo is given a chance to break Noble’s unnamed colt. “The boy watched the colt, his young lean muscular beauty in motion, then turned and walked towards the fence. There was but one spectator there, sitting on the top pole, feet resting on the lower, a youth in a Homburg hat, shirt, breeches, and riding boots of a sort worn by the master and his kind.” Lottie, daughter of the master, the owner of the estate, challenges the way Leo is handling the colt. And so begins their shared love of horses.
This is a 4* book for me. Why not 5*? Because the relationship between the two children takes a long time to start happening and then ends explosively which seems out of kilter with the spirit and pace of the story; because the slow, slow pace of the story and the passages of overly detailed description at times felt like sections for a ‘how to use farm machinery book’. But Leo is an entrancing character; his gentle authority with horses, his silences and thoughtful behaviour, make it essential to read ‘The Wanderers’, second in the trilogy.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

This poetic and beautifully-written book is the first in Tim Pears' West Country trilogy. It's the story of an unlikely friendship between 12 year old carter's son Leo Sercombe and Lottie, the daughter of Lord Prideaux, owner of the Devon country estate where they both live.

What draws them together is their love of horses. What separates them is their class. Leo hopes to follow in his father's footsteps by working with horses on the estate, while Lottie loves riding and all country pursuits. Vivid descriptions of country life in the early 20th century flow through the book at the same slow but purposeful pace of the shire horses so beloved by Leo. Through his eyes, we see scenes of rural life unfold, from shoeing horses and breaking in a young colt to harvesting grain with new labour-saving machinery, a harbinger of things to come. This is a time when heavy horses were essential to farming. If you've ever enjoyed watching then at country shows, you'll appreciate Leo's love of these huge, docile animals, whose fate was sealed by the advent of tractors and combine harvesters.

Local characters spring to life in Tim Pears' expert hands: hard-working ploughman Albert Sercombe, Leo's father; vivacious Lottie, who prefers to wear boys' clothes; Leo's sister Kizzie, who resents missing a school treat because she cannot be spared at harvest time; simple-minded Dunstone, instrumental to Leo's fate and of course Leo himself. Leo's entire life revolves around his beloved horses. Although an able student, he much prefers to spend his time learning by helping his father and Lord Prideaux' Head Groom with horse management. It is his riding skills which first impress Lottie.

The unexpected ending means you just have to read the next book, The Wanderers, to find out what happens to Leo and Lottie as they grow up.

A good, old-fashioned story, reminiscent of Thomas Hardy and R.F. Delderfield's classic trilogy 'A Horseman Riding By'. A delight from start to finish.

Somewhat slow to start, this novel is the story of Leo a boy regarded as an oddity by his peers because his interests are not those of the oher boys. Leo's interests are the animals. particularly horses. When the novel begins we meet Leo as almost an outsider - he observes what's going on rather than being involved, but as the book progresses so does Leo's involvement and interactions with the other characters. Leo's father Albert is harsh with Leo's cousin Herbert, but patient with his own son who he recognises has a particular talent with horses, but by dealing with Leo in the way he does it causes friction with his brother and nephew..
Set in a rural landscape just before WW1 the novel brings to life a world long gone - it's gentle and yet harsh at the same time. The book won't be to everyone's taste, but as a descendant of generations of agricultural labourers it gave me an insight into what their lives could have been like..

A good historical novel about country life. The characters did not grip me and I found it hard going in places. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a beautiful book. Slow and thoughtful with lovely detail of rural life before the first World War. The developing characters and their relationships are wonderfully drawn. Yes it takes time to get into this book, but it is not time wasted. Unlike most of the fast paced novels of today, it's gentle, thought provoking and just fabulous Highly recommended.

A well researched novel of the old countryside ways. It grabbed my attention at times and then sometimes I drifted off. The ending was a bit sudden and I’m intrigued by it. Will there be another book? Who knows.