Back in November, something strange happened. I RAN OUT OF BOOKS. This never happens. I’ve always got two or three (or four or five) books waiting patiently in a queue to be read. I hadn’t had my usual influx of book tokens for my birthday in September and I was waiting to see if I’d get any for Christmas, but I needed books!
My mum suggested I borrow some of hers. My parents’ taste in books is different from mine, but a change is as good as a rest, so I took a look at her collection.
The first book I picked was Clare Balding’s autobiography, My Animals and Other Family. I’m not one of these huge Clare Balding obsessives, but I think she seems like a perfectly nice person, as well as being a flipping good sports presenter, so I thought I’d give her book a go.
I was hooked from the first page. I absolutely loved it. The book covers her childhood and each chapter relates to a dog or horse that was part of her family at that time – and there were A LOT of dogs and horses. Her upbringing was unconventional, to say the least. She comes from a privileged background (the Queen used to pop round as Clare’s dad trained her horses), but was largely left to her own devices as a child, so got into far more scrapes than I ever got into as a kid.
The first few pages of the book summarise her upbringing: Candy was my mother’s boxer and the pecking order was clear. In terms of affection and attention, Candy came first and anyone else, new baby included, came second.
I was a disappointment from the minute I popped out and there’s not a thing I could do about it.
‘Oh,’ said my grandmother, ‘it’s a girl. Never mind, you’ll just have to keep trying.’
Clare comes from a long line of horse trainers and the family lived and breathed horses. Not being a horsey kind of person, I was surprised how interesting I found all the horse stuff. It is written in a way which is both understandable and entertaining for a person who doesn’t know anything about horses.
I devoured this book. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone.
February 6, 2015
I’ve read it too. It’s very funny, but also kind of a sad childhood.
February 6, 2015
It is! Very unusual. No wonder she’s been successful with that strange upbringing.
February 6, 2015
Great review. I have always thought I’d like this, I’m not horsey either so it’s good to hear your views on it. It’s definitely going on my list of things to read.x
February 6, 2015
Thanks very much! It’s definitely worth a read. x
February 6, 2015
I MUST read this! My mother is obsessed with horses (all animals, really) and my brothers and I often joke that we were only fed after all the animals had been fed first. I love Claire Balding too so I can’t believe that I haven’t already picked this up.
February 6, 2015
You definitely need to read it in that case! You will relate to it far better than I did. It is such a good read 🙂
February 6, 2015
You’re very welcome! It’s definitely well worth a read 🙂 x