The Horse Dancer: Discover the heart-warming Jojo Moyes you haven't read yet

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What binds all of them together, however is Boo, the most fabulous horse who Sarah loves unconditionally. Told with Moyes' signature heart and memorable characters, this book will drag your heart through the mud and leave you with hope and happiness. The first is her beloved grandfather, Henri whom she lives with and at one time was a professional rider for the prestigious Le Cadre Noir, a French dressage academy but he gave it all up to come to England to marry the love of his life. In my quest to read one of my favourite authors back catalogue, The Horse Dancer was next on the list and, I have to be honest, was a book I was quite wary about reading. Their relationship was a little too much rollercoaster and I think she has refined her writing since.

Natasha has a boyfriend, Conor, a partner from the law firm she works for and seems to be settling into a new life.

I enjoyed Sarah and Boo’s relationship throughout the book and I remembered how obsessed I was with my horse at her age (still at now in my thirties actually! Natasha was the most challenging to embrace as she was adept at hiding her feelings, presenting most frequently a rather cool indifference. They are trying to sell the house that they jointly own to settle the finances and as a result of this, Mac, a photographer, moves back in with Natasha, insisting that he needs somewhere to stay while he has work in London and as he owns half of the house, it should be okay to stay there.

It is forbidden to copy anything for publication elsewhere without written permission from the copyright holder. In a hidden corner of London, Henri Lachapelle is teaching his granddaughter and her horse to defy gravity, just as he had done in France, fifty years previously. In parts of the book it shows that Sarah will do anything to keep Boo and achieve her dream of riding in Saumar. It was a bit of a slog in parts just due to the length of the book but in the end it was totally worth it. What is interesting in this book is that Natasha’s behaviour mirrors Sarah’s as she is closed and defensive too, and this very much hinders her ability to open up to Mac.

But when Henri suffers a stroke, Sarah must go into foster care and do whatever it takes to not be parted from Boo, even if that means hiding his existence. It’s different every time because he might be in a mood or I might be tired, or the ground might be softer. I had never heard of it; but, I was aware of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna and the famous Lippizaner horses. The horse, nicknamed Boo, is a Selle Français, a breed of sport horse from France renowned primarily for its success in show jumping.