Elizabeth Letts has two novels to her credit--Quality of Care and Family Planning--as well as a children's book, The Butter Man. She's been an equestrian since childhood, so her first nonfiction book, The Eighty-Dollar Champion, about a remarkable horse, is a good fit, and the story is thrilling.
In the 1950s, Harry de Leyer, a young Dutch immigrant teaching riding at a girl's school, was looking for lesson horses. By chance, he spotted an old plow horse in a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. The calm expression on the horse's face caught Harry's eye, and he bought him for $80. Thus began a lifetime bond of trust and love. When Harry, needing money, had to sell Snowman to a nearby farm, Snowy, on his own, jumped five miles of paddock fences, once dragging an old tire, to get back home. So Harry began working with Snowy, training him to jump. After many tries, Harry unlocked the secret to the horse's gift.
Letts's taut, detailed writing vividly recounts the excitement of the shows; the heights these underdogs climbed; the world of the Eisenhower '50s; and what Snowman and Harry meant to the everyday people they inspired. This book is not only for horsemen and -women; we can all appreciate the beauty of a special bond in the way author describes show jumping: "On any given round, the horse's heartbeat melds with his own, the hoof beats becoming his own rhythm. The world around them melts away. All that remains are motion, flow, silence, and that incomparable feeling that is flight." --K.C. Martin, blogger at The Readable Feast
Learn more about The Eighty-Dollar Champion.