FASTER HORSES

In this novel, a young girl copes with an unstable home life and the raucous rodeo world.

Annie Butler lives in Emerald City, Oregon, in the 1940s and ’50s, and she tries her best to thrive in the tumultuous rodeo world. Annie feels like the black sheep of the family. Her mother, Linda, is a rodeo star—sexy and skillful and caring more about her career than her daughter. Annie’s grandmother Mam casually abuses her most of the time. Her Uncle Jack is an angry, violent man who is hellbent on Annie’s bearing the brunt of his bitterness. No one seems to care much when Annie is sexually assaulted by an older girl. Despite her turbulent situation, Annie embraces rodeo life, particularly after traveling with her mother to shows. After getting her first horse, Genie, Annie even wins an event at a show. Later, when her mother gives up riding and Annie hears that her first crush was gored by a bull, the rodeo’s fast-paced culture starts troubling her. Annie is growing up, and, at only 13 years old, she tries to figure out her blossoming romantic feelings for some of the men around her. Interspersed with scenes from 1999, when Annie is at her family’s ranch looking back on her adolescence, Clayton Van’s novel, the first in a series, is strongest when it leans into the coming-of-age aspects of Annie’s life, particularly as she navigates the new, intense feelings she has as a teenager. One scene, when Annie and her friend Margie Delaunay practice kissing, is especially well crafted, highlighting the childlike curiosity of Annie alongside her desire to explore and her resulting confusion. But the tale feels almost exhaustive—nearly every moment of Annie’s childhood is unnecessarily dissected. This often causes the prose to be somewhat repetitive and throws the pacing off, with Annie only 10 halfway through the tale. Still, Annie is a resilient protagonist, which is admirable, though it can be tough to read about a child experiencing some of the trials she endures. The rodeo setting provides a fresh take on the bildungsroman.

An engaging addition to the coming-of-age genre with slow pacing.