I tried to swear off multi-narrative books because I’m getting tired of this genre, but I wanted to read this highly acclaimed book of historical fiction about a famous racehorse named Lexington, whose thoroughbred career won a remarkable six of seven races (blindness cut his career short) and then went on to become the most successful sire of the 19th century.  Brooks did a remarkable amount of research in telling this story, from the owners and the breeding lines to the anatomy and physicality of the horses. 

Three primary storylines make up the narrative: 1850s Kentucky with Lexington, named Darley at birth, along with his owners, his trainers, Jarrett and his father Harry, and the artist, Thomas Scott, who painted him. A second narrative takes place in 2019 Washington DC with Theo, an art historian, and Jess, an expert in skeletal articulation. The third storyline (much less developed and rightly so) takes place in the 50s and city 60s New York City, centering around art dealer Martha Jackson, who adds a horse painting to her collection of up and coming modern artists. 

The power of the book lies in the story of Lexington and his enslaved groom, Jarrett, showing their intimate relationship and the intricacies of horse training, both its physical and psychological sides. Brooks recreates the thrill of horse racing at a time when it became a national sport and when races were 4 miles and ran twice within a few hours (today’s Kentucky Derby by comparison is 1 1/4miles long). 

While this part of the book is Brooks’s best writing and offers so much historical fact about Lexington’s various owners, the highly skilled Black trainers, and the impact of the Civil War, she also includes a great deal about Jarret’s thoughts as an enslaved young man whose father bought his own freedom but did not have adequate money to buy his own son. I thought she handled this aspect of the story well, relying heavily on historical documentation of similar situations and (there is little on Lexington’s actual groom) and the time period. Yet there is much controversy about a white Australian woman conveying the thoughts of an enslaved young man in 1850 Kentucky. I don’t feel competent to comment on that. 

Where the book falters is in the 2019 storyline as art historian Theo navigates a romance with a White woman while researching an old painting he rescued from his neighbor’s trash. His character is too flat and their relationship too predictable. And while the painting in the trash is a real thing, and the idea of lost paintings is the thread tying the various narratives together, there remains too much coincidence and forced connections to make these other plot lines seamlessly fit into Lexington’s. 

As Brooks states in her author’s notes, one cannot tell the story of horse racing without also telling the story of race. She’s a powerful writer of horses: racing, training, breeding, behavior, and anatomy. But writing about race and enslavement–though central to the period of the story–is far more complex and perhaps impossible to handle well. 

Despite these flaws, I enjoyed the book and horse racing’s controversial history. 

As far as Brooks’s body of work, People of the Book and Year of Wonders are still my two favorites.