Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Horse Whisperer

The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer
Author: Nicholas Evans
A forty-ton truck hurtles out of control on a snowy country road, a teenage girl on horseback in its path.  In a few terrible seconds the life of a family is shattered.  And a mother's quest begins -- to save her maimed daughter and a horse driven mad by pain.  It is an odyssey that will bring her to... — The Hors...  more »

He is the stuff of legend.  His voice can calm wild horses and his touch heal broken spirits.  For secrets uttered softly into pricked and troubled ears, such men were once called Whisperers.  Now Tom Booker, the inheritor of this ancient gift, is to meet his greatest challenge.

Annie Graves has traveled across a continent with her daughter, Grace, and their wounded horse, Pilgrim, to the Booker ranch in Montana.  Annie has risked everything -- her career, her marriage, her comfortable life -- in her desperate belief that the Whisperer can help them.  The accident has turned Pilgrim savage.  He is now so demented and dangerous that everyone says he should be destroyed.  But Annie won't give up on him, for she feels his fate is inextricably entwined with that of her daughter, who has retreated into a heartrending, hostile silence.  Annie knows that if the horse dies, something in Grace will die too.

In the weeks to come, under the massive sky of the Rocky Mountain Front, all their lives -- including Tom Booker's -- will be transformed forever in a way none could have foretold.  At once an epic love story and a gripping adventure, The Horse Whisperer weaves an extraordinary tale of healing and redemption -- a magnificent emotional journey that explores our ancient bonds with earth and sky and hearts untamed.  It is a stirring elegy to the power of belief and self-discovery, to hopes lost and found again.
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780385315234
ISBN-10: 0385315236
Publication Date: 9/11/1995
Pages: 416
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 201
3.8 stars, based on 201 ratings
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

 WestofMars avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 162 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
I resisted reading this for years. Years. I wrote it off as romance pap; nothing I'd be interested in.

Yet something made me pick it up, and I was amazed to find it is one of the best-written books I've ever encountered. Even now, all I need to do is think back and I can conjure up the mental images the book produced in me. And I've read probably two hundred books since then.

I say all this with one caveat: I never saw the movie. I strongly suspect I don't want to.
Moo avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 111 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
The name is Tom Booker, his voice can calm wild horses, his touch can heal broken spirits. And Annie Graves has traveled across a continent to the Booker ranch in Montana, desperate to heal her injured daughter, the girl's savage house, and her own wonded heart. She comes for hope. She comes fo rher child. And beneath the wide Montana sky, she comes to him for what no one else can give her; a reason to believe....

This story was fasninating, moving, and a unexpected surpised ending. I gave this book a level 5+. Nicholas Evans is a great writer and will keep you wanting for more.
countrylane avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 81 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
By now, everyone has heard of this book. If you haven't read it, you should. If you are familiar with the "real" horse whisperer, then parts of this will not ring true, however, it is a great story that will definitely hold your interest. I think the book is much better than the movie. It is an original concept, a very moving story with a gripping, unexpected ending. I think this will become a classic horse story, a must read.
Mixitup avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is almost magical. This will draw you into the characters' lives and leave you wanting more.
Mixitup avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
One of my all time favs. I read it long ago and saw the movie years later. I must say the movie was okay, but the book was magical. Extremely good reading and very thought provoking.
Read All 131 Book Reviews of "The Horse Whisperer"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

 reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 18 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite books. Nicholas Evans has a way of keeping the pages turning with his character dialogue and intense descriptions about love. This was one that I pulled an all-nighter reading and one of the first books that made me cry.
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 19 more book reviews
Both books in this series were excellent!! Be sure to order them both. You'll want to read them both!!
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 53 more book reviews
Best book I've read in a long time. Started to read it again but resisted the urge.
KansasSunflower avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 329 more book reviews
One of the very rare time I thought the movie was better.
23dollars avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 432 more book reviews
I read this for a TBR potluck challenge in my online book club, The Reading Cove. It started out engaging, but then took a wrong turn.

The opening scenes were gripping. Grace and her friend have a terrible horse riding accident, which also involves the driver of a big rig, named Wayne. He was featured as a focal character who would be a part of the entire book, but he abruptly disappears after the accident, leaving me to wonder why he was given so much page time to begin with...

Grace's mother Annie was a very unlikeable character. She was very emotionally self-centered and cold and unavailable to her husband and daughter. I disliked the way Grace's father, Robert, allowed her to railroad him much of the time. For an attorney in New York City, he was such a wimp in his marriage....

Which leads to Annie's affair with the title's namesake, the horse whisperer. Tom out in Montana. I won't go into too much here, but once Annie and Grace get to Montana (a move it seemed the Robert character would've pushed for more so than Annie's) the story descends into little more than a trite, contrived romance novel. I had zero interest in the development of Tom and Annie's affair...so the rest of the book fell very flat for me. And the ending was extremely rushed!

The healing of Grace and her horse, Pilgrim, was nice to see, but didn't get the page time the beginning of the novel had primed the reader for. So the story was off balance in that respect. I give it a C+.
gotchagal avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 97 more book reviews
A superb well-written story that will hold your attention completely. The expression, "I found it impossible to put this book down" fits this story perfectly. You may want to keep some tissues handy as Evan's book will touch your heart as well as your mind.

If you plan to rent the video, don't do it until you've read the book which is SO much better. This is a book you'll want to refer to and share with good friends.
lestatvictim avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 3 more book reviews
Forget about the movie...the book is more intense. I was constantly turning the pages, wondering what would happen next. Part romance, part redemption, part drama....this is one of his best books, in my opinion. The ending blew me away...WOW!
jodytx avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 13 more book reviews
Could not put this down, very gripping start!
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 9 more book reviews
The stunning international bestseller that is at once an epic love story and a gripping adventure-a mesmerizing tale of healing and redemption that will hold you spellbound as it dares you to believe.....
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 71 more book reviews
this books is so much better than the movie for i cried at the end.
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 2 more book reviews
Excellent!
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 24 more book reviews
Great story!
Tata avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 135 more book reviews
I read the book "The Horse Whisperer". I was given the audio and have not used it. The book was magnificent. A great read.
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 8 more book reviews
I thought this book was ok. I thought the book led us down an obvious path but I thought the ending was horrible. What a cop out!
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 60 more book reviews
I enjoyed this book so much! The ending really surprised me and stayed with me long after I read it. Much better than the movie!!
reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 20 more book reviews
Great book. I really enjoyed reading it.
wordyone avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 112 more book reviews
A child wounded in body and spirit. A horse driven mad by pain. A woman fighting to save them both and the man who is their only hope. An excellent book.
wordyone avatar reviewed The Horse Whisperer on + 112 more book reviews
A woman takes her injured daughter and her horse to a man who may be the only hope of saving them all.


Genres:


Back to the Top ↑
By using this Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms of Use. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
US Patent Number 7,877,315 | Copyright © 2004 - 2024 PaperBackSwap.com. All Rights Reserved.