The Pinecroft Thoroughbreds

Selwyn Anne Grames
Zumaya Publications (2001)
ISBN 1591090547
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (9/06)

Caitlin Gleary is a talented horse trainer and longs to be a jockey but in the early 1900s a female jockey was unheard of.  Charles Kendall is a handsome, wealthy American with a horse farm.  He and Caitlin meet when to travels to Ireland to buy thoroughbreds.  Their lives will never be the same.

Ninety-year-old Caitlin Gleary tells the story of her life in “Pinecroft Thoroughbreds.”  Her granddaughter has asked her to narrate her fascinating story on audio tape and plans to have it published. Caitlin attended finishing school with Eleanor Roosevelt, trained horses and dreamed of being a jockey.  The young woman was and talented but in 1903 a female jockey was unheard of. 

Caitlin was an excellent rider and had a passion for horses.  The lovely, high-spirited, redhead worked closely with her father on his horse farm, Cleary Stud, in Ireland. 

When thrown from her favorite mount, the humiliation increased when witnessed by Charles Kendall, a handsome American.  Charles is a wealthy landowner but knows little about raising horses.  Charles woos Caitlin and asks for her hand in marriage.  Caitlin is intrigued to be the lady of the manor and mistress of the stables. The two make their home on his isolated estate, Pinecroft, in New Jersey.  Together they discovered the pleasures of the marriage bed.

Charles had always avoided discussing his family but soon secrets began to emerge. Secrets that threaten to destroy those in Ireland as well as those in America.  The Kendall family is cursed and curses have a way of passing from generation to generation; Charles feared that his children would inherit the dreaded curse.

This book is well-written and truly a pleasure to read.  The characters are strong and bring emotion to the reader.  The description of the estates transports the reader to Pinecroft and Ireland.  This book is a glimpse into the life of the rich, famous and common worker in the 1900s.  This book evokes passion for the characters; the reader feels their pain and their triumph. 

I like this book, “Pinecroft Thoroughbreds,”’ and take pleasure in recommending it to those readers that enjoy a unique love story with a touch of history thrown in.

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