Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Riding Lessons

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished. Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father's New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables-and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch. But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Annemarie Zimmer has issues. She creates problems with her parents, daughter, ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, and employees. Maggi-Meg Reed captures Annemarie's self-absorbed rants and conflicts with just the right amount of strident enthusiasm and engagement. Set in the fascinating world of horse farms and equestrian events, the novel--maddening protagonist and all--is tough to resist. Reed's performance is effortless as she takes the listener through Annemarie's daily trials, centered on a rehabilitated mystery horse whose appearance brings back old ghosts. Annemarie must come to terms with the riding accident that ended her career as a teenager before she can move on to become a true adult. RIDING LESSONS is an ideal beach book, especially for horse lovers. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 1, 2004
      Like The Horse Whisperer
      , Gruen's polished debut is a tale of human healing set against the primal world of horses. The Olympic dreams of teenaged equestrian Annemarie Zimmer end when her beloved horse, Harry, injures her and destroys himself in a jumping accident. In the agonizing aftermath, she gives up riding and horses entirely. Two decades later, she returns to her family's horse farm a divorcee, with her troubled teenaged daughter, Eve, in tow. There, her gruff Germanic mother struggles to maintain the farm and care for Annemarie's father, who is stricken with ALS. Although Annemarie decides (disastrously) to manage the farm's business, her attention quickly turns to an old and ostensibly worthless horse with the same rare coloring as Harry. Her long-denied passion for riding reawakens as she tracks the horse's identity and eventually discovers it to be Harry's younger brother. She must heal both horse and herself as she struggles with her father's deterioration, Eve's rebellion and her attraction to both the farm's new trainer and her childhood sweetheart Dan. Impulsive and self-absorbed, Annemarie isn't always likable, but Gruen's portrait of the stoic elder Zimmers is beautifully nuanced, as is her evocation of Eve's adolescent troubles. Amid this realistically complex generational sandwich, the book's appealing horse scenes—depicted with unsentimental affection—help build a moving story of loss, survival and renewal. (Apr.)

      Forecast:
      Never underestimate the public's fascination with horses. Harper Torch certainly isn't; the house is launching Gruen's debut with an impressive 400,000-copy first printing. While this book isn't likely to be the next
      Seabiscuit, its striking cover image, featuring a silhouette of a wild horse, will help attract a broad spectrum of readers.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 26, 2008
      When the main character in a novel is as annoying as a boil, an audio performer must be thrilled at the chance to portray someone who isn't particularly nice or competent. Maggi-Meg Reed's Annemarie shouts, cries, whines, cajoles and lies her way through escalating crises. Reed is superb. She does an equally adept rendering of the other characters, including Annemarie's mother, with her thick Austrian accent and tight-lipped stoic voice. Eve, Annemarie's daughter, is a perfectly petulant teenager, speaking to her mother in a strident and querulous tone. A local policewoman has such a perfect New Hampshire accent that one wonders why the other locals don't. Despite the unsympathetic Annemarie, Reed's stellar performance makes Gruen's 2004 debut novel hard to turn off. A Harper paperback (Reviews, Mar. 1, 2004).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      After Annemarie Zimmer loses her job, she learns that her husband is leaving her, her sullen teenaged daughter is being expelled from prep school, and her father is suffering the final stages of ALS. Frazzled, nearly unhinged, Annemarie retreats with her daughter to her parents' New Hampshire horse farm. There, 20 years earlier, a tragic riding accident destroyed Harry, the horse she loved, and her own Olympic hopes. Maggi-Meg Reed takes the self-absorbed, irritating Annemarie and turns her from harridan to human, making her shrewish outbursts understandable, if not laudable. When Annemarie discovers a damaged horse who might be Harry's brother, Reed is completely convincing as Annemarie's elation turns to obsession. Gruen's emotionally overwrought story, with its grating main character, benefits from Reed's multilayered narration. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading