From Publishers Weekly
The narrator of Lewis's impressive first novel is 15-year-old Lee, whose story is both a fascinating and repelling look at the dark side of show-horse riding. Lee is kicked out of school for possessing marijuana, a minor offense compared with her other habits: pill-popping, heavy drinking and anonymous sex with men her father's age. Returning home is no option, since her father sexually abuses her, with her mother's connivance. So Lee runs away to Florida, where she finds work riding in horse shows. But she seems compelled to seek out destructive sexual relationships, first with a female rider, Tory, and then with Tory's former lover, Linda, a veterinarian who dopes up both horses and their riders. When Lee starts riding for Linda and Tory's boss, a sadistic voyeur who manages a stable, her descent into a hell of drugs and violent sex accelerates (she becomes addicted to heroin and describes Linda going at her until "she'd torn me up inside"). The immorality and cruelty of this sordid world, as well as the repetitious drug and sex scenes, may numb readers. Moreover, Lewis is so adept at creating the voice and thoughts of a 15-year-old that Lee's lack of understanding and unwillingness to see the truth about her self-destructiveness becomes exasperating. Even so, this powerful portrayal of the steamy underside of a seemingly respectable world is hard to put down, particularly the compelling passages capturing Lee's thoughts while riding. Be warned, howerver: the story horrifies even as it absorbs.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
This novel offers a stark, shocking view of a world of sex, drugs, and violence as seen through the eyes of an insecure but streetwise 15-year-old. Lee is kicked out of boarding school for doing drugs. She's unable to go home because of her father's increasingly jealous and violent sexual abuse. So she heads for the horse show circuit and the trainer who sheltered her during her years of riding. Soon, a crush on top rider Tory Markham lures Lee into joining "The Ruskers," who succeed in part through Linda Rusker's adroit drug management of both horses and riders. Tory and Lee are soon addicted to heroin. Only jumping her horses gives Lee a greater rush than drugs or sadistic sex, until an accident interrupts the cycle. This is a strong and graphic first novel, skillfully constructed and relentless in exposing Lee's pain and her world. For popular fiction collections.
- Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L. , Va.Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
