Lara and the Gray Mare. ISBN: 0525473327
Lara and the Moon-Colored Filly. ISBN: 0525473335
Lara at Athenry Castle. ISBN: 0525473408
Lara and the Silent Place. ISBN: 0142402338
Juv Historic Fiction: Irish 10 year old girl must fend for herself and her filly against the rest of the world.
I
had fun reading these, but the very last one had significant typo and
editing problems, which hampered my enjoyment at the last. I also felt
that the plotting of the last one was weak, and the telegraphing of the
final solution felt both last-minute and heavy-handed.
Short summaries:
Gray Mare: Larach lives
in a poor tuath (holding) where her father is the ri (lord) and her aunt
is 15, unwed, unbetrothed, and unhappy. After a raid, the girls are
sent to care for the sheep and cows in the upland, and Lara finds the
stolen pregnant mare giving birth. The book ends with both Lara and her
aunt being abducted along with the days-old filly.
Moon-Colored Filly: Lara is at a much richer
holding, in the care of the lord that took her and her Aunt. While the
Aunt falls in love with the enemy, Lara continues to scheme to get her
own freedom and that of the filly. She learns of the filly's heritage,
and finds her own enemy to begin having feelings for.
Athenry Castle: Lara's filly was taken from her, and
now she's in disguise in the "city" around the castle as a boy, and
working in the stables. She's been training the filly to run with her,
and that may be key to winning her - if she can keep her identity
hidden, and manage to win the upcoming race.
Silent Place: Lara's on the run with the filly, in a
different disguise, from the disgrace and chaos of Athenry. She meets
with a party of nuns, but decides to leave them to minimize their
chances of being harmed through association with a horse-thief. Her
father captures her on the road unknowing (in disguise) so even though
she didn't want to bring the filly (and the danger) back to her home,
she is stuck following her father. Her independence is too much for his
traditionalism, and her peace-loving desires don't mesh with his need
to war. It all comes to nothing when Lara and her father are caught and
returned to Athenry, where Lara manages to save the day with ancient
knowledge. Afterwards, Lara realizes she can't live at home, and she
slips off to return to the nuns.
I only wish that some of the male characters weren't
horrid people. The only ones worth anything are the men from
Moon-Colored Filly, one boy at Athenry, and one man from Lara's
hometown. Nearly ALL of the women are portrayed positively, so that was
a slight let-down. It's possible (and better) to have girl power
without slandering the guys.
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