Paula Xiberras
`I recently chatted to author Jackie Merchant. Jackie has lived in Tasmania for 16 years. Presently, Jackie lives in Harford, Sassafras with her horses, a love of horses extends to her childhood when her parents bought a riding school and how horses proved a cure when she was carsick and would imagine horses galloping by the car, calming her sickness. These childhood experiences have inspired her debut novel ‘The Promise Horse’
The Promise Horse is the story of Harry, a young girl who feels an outsider because of physical attributes of above average height and red hair. Adding to her feelings of isolation is the loss of her sister Sissy to illness which has made family relationships fragile. Harrys mum particularly, has been devastated by Sissy’s loss and is overprotective and uncommunicative to Harry. As Jackie says, Harry’s mum may sometimes do and say ‘monstrous things’ but she is no monster, instead a mother broken by her loss.
Sissy, however, is not lost to Harry, in fact in a demonstration of how love never leaves, she visits Harry as a ghost or spirit that is not as Jackie says in anyway ‘saintly’ or ‘ethereal’ but rather ‘earthy and full of humorous quips of very ‘Sassy’ Sissy advice to Harry.
Some of that advice concerns Billy, a boy who bullies Harry.in the early part of the novel. Harry learns that Billy is himself under the control of a strict father and not really as bad as she thought. Like Harry, Billy loves horses and has, Jackie says’ two good people’ in his life, young Lizzie, who gives a horse to Harry and Jack who helps Harry get her’ horse feet’, literally, in fitting her for a pair of good riding boots.
Harry’s process of mastering how to ride her horse, in small steps, parallels her real life small steps to empowerment.
The Promise Horse is out now published by Walker Books …
