On the Edge. Jenny Pitman

by Jenny Pitman

Book Overview

Jan Hardy is left to look after her two young children, and to face her bitter mother-in-law alone. But she cannot continue to make a success of the crumbling Welsh farm and the life that goes with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330490346
• ISBN13: 9780330490344
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Pan Publishing
• Length: 596 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Very Good Read

Author Jenny Pitman has all the credentials to write a book about horses and National Hunt racing. A Grand National winning rider, she knows what she is talking about. Her hands-on knowledge and love for the horses shines through. Not surprisingly, she gets all the details right. What is a bit more surprising is that she is a good writer too. The story moves along nicely, the heroine is likeable and sympathetic - you care about her and what happens to her, and the characters and plots develop well. I immediately went out and bought the next two books in the series, and gave them as gifts as well.

a page turner

I bought this book in the airport when I was flying back to the states from London not too long after it was published in the UK. I like horses and was looking for something to read on the plane. When in the UK I like to try and buy books by authors that aren't widely known in the US (Pitman wasn't at that time). I figured it would be an OK read, so I was pleasantly surprised. I have since read the sequels that have been available in the US and enjoyed them as well. Like most books about horse racing, it is likely a bit long on the success stories and short on the heartaches and failures that are far more common in real life horse racing (I know in real life racing, at least in the US, horses frequently break down or just fail to perform to expectations and are "put down" for humane reasons or simply sent to slaughter for monetary ones). But it did manage to get a sense of the uncertaintly and stress that goes with the life of a trainer while delivering a satisfying read with interesting characters and intrigues.