It’s 1917, America has entered the Great War, and Martha Lessen arrives in Eastern Oregon on a mission to break wild horses. She is a large girl, taller than most men. She is also sensitive, not the best trait for a girl doing what most consider a man’s job. She is a girl who knows her horses. She is the protagonist of Molly Gloss’ latest novel, The Hearts of Horses.
The heart of the matter
It’s 1917, America has entered the Great War, and Martha Lessen arrives in Eastern Oregon on a mission to break wild horses. She is a large girl, taller than most men. She is also sensitive, not the best trait for a girl doing what most consider a man’s job. She is a girl who knows her horses. She is the protagonist of Molly Gloss’ latest novel, The Hearts of Horses.
Gloss, an Oregonian herself, brings to life the small Elwha County community with great precision and simplicity. Her language and descriptions are minimal and conversational. Her voice is that of an old-timer retelling a story with the benevolence and education of hindsight. There is a startling lack of judgment in narration, which allows readers to come to their own conclusions. Throughout, Gloss uses changes in point of view and repetition as her strongest literary tools, allowing the story to unfold at a comfortable and appropriate pace.
Don’t get the impression that the book is a drag, though. The movement of the novel is steady and satisfying, mirroring the landscape in which the action takes place. Martha gives an outsider’s perspective to the community of homesteaders and ranchers, revealing dynamic relationships and human struggles. Readers learn about the community at the same time and speed as Martha, giving them a chance to truly absorb each pivotal detail.
No character is untouched by tragedy and hardship, yet each character has something unique and valuable to offer to the novel’s progression. The backdrop of Oregon in its early days allows the interactions and conflicts of the novel to come through without the distractions so common in today’s world. It also brings into focus what is actually necessary to survive.
The concerns of World War I make the novel not only entertaining but also applicable to contemporary issues. Gloss’ characters find themselves balancing overzealous patriotism, racism, loss, propaganda, and the need to help the boys overseas in much the same manner as modern readers.
Simultaneously, readers are given a glimpse of a time past. The men and women of the novel are not merely possessed of a pioneering spirit-they are pioneers. The romantic days of the Wild West and Buffalo Bill are not distant history for them, because small pockets of the nation are available for intrepid young people (like Martha) to seek out.
But this is not a traditional Western, either. The day-to-day struggles are too mundane and the characters are too complex. Suffrage is close on the horizon and the women are not damsels in distress. The old drunk doesn’t clean up his ways in the end to become an upstanding man of the community. It’s not about an honest man’s struggle against corruption, nor is it a story of redemption.
The people of Elwha County’s troubles stem from adjusting to a modernizing world and weathering the storms of the unforgiving land they live on. Instead of a dastardly character, the villains are cruelty, prejudice, and even cancer. Abstract concepts and fighting the unknown become the primary antagonists of the novel.
Gloss is both tender and straightforward in her writing, which saves the novel from becoming unemotional, too sentimental, or cliché. Martha is a horse whisperer, but this is not the romance story now associated with the occupation. Gloss’ honesty perseveres throughout the entirety of the novel. This lends believability to the characters, their problems and hang-ups.
There is, however, a bit of a love story involved. It is not “happily-ever-after” enough to take away from the integrity of what Gloss has done though. Her portrait of western life during that era is accurately represented in the style of courtship that takes place, as well as the life that follows.
One character, a young man by the name of Will Wright, eagerly awaits his 18th birthday, when he will marry the girl he’s had his eye on, and then enlist in the army. He leaves as both a new bridegroom and soldier, to fight in France, while his young wife remains back home, pregnant with their first child. And when it comes her turn for marriage, Martha reveals her great fear of ending up like her mother, with six babies in six years. This is certainly not the stuff of fairytale love.
The Hearts of Horses is as vast and encompassing as the setting it takes place in. It’s a wonderful novel. It is honestly refreshing in a climate of authors who seem to love to shock. Gloss has written a novel that is engaging and relevant for readers of any age.
