Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Horse is a novel that intertwines three distinct narratives set in different time periods: the 1850s, 1950s, and 2019. Each storyline focuses on specific characters and unfolds over varying durations. The characters gradually uncover fragments of Lexington's story, piecing them together in an attempt to comprehend his history. The reader is given a comprehensive and chronological account of Jarret and Lexington's story, allowing them access to information that the modern-day researchers, Theo and Jess, are unaware of until much later.
In 2019, Theo Northam, a graduate student in Georgetown studying Art History, stumbles upon a portrait of a horse labeled as "FREE" outside his neighbor's house. Meanwhile, Jess, an osteologist at the Smithsonian Institute, discovers the skeleton of a renowned Thoroughbred racehorse hidden in one of the museum's attics. As they delve into their respective investigations, their paths converge, leading to a friendship that blossoms into a romantic relationship.
In the 1850s, Jarret Lewis, an enslaved Black teenager, witnesses the birth of Lexington, a foal destined to become the legendary racehorse in American turf racing history. Jarret's chapters recount his journey across the American South alongside Lexington, as they are sold first to a dubious racing promoter named Richard Ten Broeck and then to a devoted Thoroughbred breeder named Robert Alexander. Along the way, they frequently encounter Thomas J. Scott, an equine portrait artist whose diary entries provide valuable insights into the remarkable bond between Jarret and Lexington.
In 1954, Martha Jackson, an art gallerist and former horse enthusiast, is astonished to discover that a painting her housekeeper Annie asked her to appraise depicts none other than the famous racehorse Lexington, who happens to be the great grandsire of Martha's mother's horse, Royal Eclipse.
These three storylines progress simultaneously throughout the novel. Theo and Jess eventually realize that the skeleton in the Smithsonian's attic belongs to Lexington, the same horse depicted in the painting Theo rescued. As Jarret and Lexington's story unfolds, Theo and Jess learn more about the role of Black men in 19th-century Southern racing culture and the circumstances that led to Lexington's eventual blindness. Details that remain unknown to the modern researchers are revealed in subsequent chapters following Jarret and Lexington. The surviving Thomas J. Scott paintings of Lexington act as a guide, and the final missing portrait is unveiled as being purchased by Jarret in 1875, after Lexington's death.
With the help of scientific research and the collection of existing images, Jess successfully reconstructs Lexington's skeleton, which is then exhibited at the American Museum of the Horse. Meanwhile, when Theo discovers the value of the painting he saved from the neighbor's discarded items, he plans to return it to her with a potential buyer's contact information. Tragically, before he can do so, Theo is fatally shot by a police officer who mistakes his intentions while trying to assist an injured woman. Jess returns the painting, and later learns that the neighbor sold it to the Lexington exhibit, stipulating that Theo's name be included on the plaque in his memory. The novel concludes as Jess boards a plane back to her native Australia, accompanied by Theo's dog Clancy, and envisions a dream where Lexington runs alongside his earliest equine ancestors in the Australian desert.
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