At only 5, Maisie hadn’t heard the word prodigy before. But that’s what her dad called her – an art prodigy. All Maisie knew was that she liked to draw. She loved to visit the art gallery with her dad, and stare at a painting for hours, poring over each brush stroke, shadow and line.

Now 13, she sits with her dad at a parent-teacher evening. Her teacher is raging as she flicks each of Maisie’s exercise books open – all overflowing with drawings and sketches of horses. Is Dad cross at her  afterwards? Not at all. In fact, he has dreams of a different future for his daughter.

An all paid art scholarship in Paris is that future, and under a guardian, Maisie attends an exclusive art school. She settles into the rooms that used to belong to the young woman over a century before, had set up the scholarship – Rose Bonifait. Rose too, was fascinated in horses, drawing and painting only them. Purely by chance, Maisie discovers Rose’s diary.

Maisie is the youngest in her art class by far, and for the first time in her life, her drawings of horses do not impress her teacher. Disheartened, she wanders along the streets and finds a stable of French Police (Gendarmerie) horses. One of these horses will change her life forever.

A story of two talented child artists, 150 years apart. Both girls love horses and spend all their waking hours painting, drawing and studying them. A diary connects the two, giving the reader concurrent stories of heartache and courage.

The two times are written in different fonts to make it easy for the reader to determine where and when they are. The horse stories entwined with the girls were equally touching and terrible, but redeeming as the story is completed – finishing where it started. Great read for art lovers, horse fans or animal lovers in general.

Author – Stacy Gregg

Age – 7+

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(2020, Harper Collins, Horse, History, Art, Drawing, Painting, Sketching, Auction, Art School, Paris, Diary, Accident, Terror attack, Mounted Police, Gendarmerie, Courage, Bravery)