Romance, heartbreak, and horses all seem to just go together in some odd way. They go together prefectly in the life of Annemarie Zimmer in the book "Riding Lessons" by Sara Gruen. These and the added stressors of the loss of her horse, job, and husband, and on top of those her father's illness and the melodramatic daughter all pile on top of Annemarie's life. This book tells a meaningful story of a woman, her amzing horse, and love.
The book starts off on a sad, but important note explaining what happened when Annemarie, 18 at the time, was in a horrible show jumping accident with her uniquly colored horse, Harry. Unfortunately, Annemarie loses more than just her horse in the accident. She has no connection with horses or riding after the accident until she later has no choice. As Annemarie gets older, life seems pretty great until, all in one day, it's all crushed to the ground. She loses her job, her husband, Roger, cheats on her and leaves her, and her daughter, Eva, pretty much hates her.
At that, she moves in with her parents at their horse boarding and riding facility in New hampshire, dragging Eva along with her. Here, she finds out her father is much more deathly ill than she thought, which really takes a toll on her. Later, a whole slew of problems and surprises arise. These include romance for both Annemarie and Eva, a heart-warming, yet terrifying surprise for Annemarie, and many more stressful, dramatic, and heart-wrenching events in this shaky life of Miss Zimmer.
This book not only kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to find out what would happen next between Annemarie and her love, her horse, and her daughter, it also made me appareciate the things I have in my life and to work harder towrads the things I want and need. This book does teach a great lesson about life and love that everyone (including non-horse lovers) should learn. I give this book a 5 out of 5 because it's definitely something I could read again. While I was tempted to go out and give my horse a hug at the most doleful parts of the book, I was also ready to work harder towards the things that mean the most to me in life, whether it be horses, family, or just love in general.