NBTM Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: horse/man by Julia Merritt

Welcome to my stop on the NBTM virtual book tour for horse/man by Julia Merritt. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book and an interesting guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: horse/man

Author: Julia Merritt

Publisher: Tellwell Talent

Publication Date: January 27th 2022

Print Length: 274 pages

Genre: Literary Fiction

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What happens when your entire identity revolves around a way of life that is becoming obsolete?

In the 1920s, as Canada progresses through the Industrial Revolution, horses are still the rural engines of survival. As a child Adam lives this reality on his family's farm in the Ottawa Valley, planning to take over one day and have a family of his own. When his parents die during the Great Depression, nineteen-year-old Adam is disinherited in favour of his brother and is forced to move to the city to find work. Without a formal education his choices are few, yet he finds a place to use his horsemanship skills in the dwindling forces of the Canadian cavalry based near Montreal. There he finds pride in being a mounted soldier, and friendship with his fellow dragoons. But the cavalry units are mechanized by the beginning of World War Two, and when Adam is sent to Europe, he must abandon his equine partners for trucks and tanks. In the catastrophic experience of war, he will lose everything once again.

Broken in body and spirit, he returns to Canada where he must confront the question of survival in a world that doesn't seem to have a place for an injured soldier. Full of poetic reflections on what it means to work with horses, horse/man is a powerful story about a man searching for dignity and connection in the face of a rapidly shifting world.

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EXCERPT:

“You know,” Tom carried on, “you may want to start considering one for yourself.”

“Mmm,” said Ciaran, wary.

Tom shook his head. “They’re the way of the future, I’m telling you. Gonna save you farmers reams of work.”

Ciaran’s face went blank. “We’ll see,” was all he said. He looked at the floor for a moment, then to the back of the shop where Tom’s assistant was gathering the order. Tom uncrossed his arms, shifting to pull his pencil from behind his ear and move it over the ledger.

On the way home, Adam sat in the wagon’s front seat and rolled the image of the car in his mind, trying to remember the details. He’d seen cars advertised in catalogues, one of those fantastical advancements that people in the Ottawa Valley weren’t wealthy enough to afford. The idea of climbing into a car was far removed from hitching a horse to a wagon. Who owned it? Why did that person need it? Adam thought maybe his father might know, but Ciaran’s silence was always forbidding, and he wasn’t brave enough to break it. He recalled the car’s colour as so deeply black it was unnatural compared to even the blackest of horses, whose coats were sunburnt in the summer and covered with dust in the winter. And when it had passed, the engine sound had drowned out all others.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Julia Merritt has been captivated by horses ever since she could see out of the car window. Then she grew up and became a public library CEO and certified animal bodyworker. She lives in Ontario, Canada, with her thoroughbred horses and smooth collie dogs. This is her first novel.

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GUEST POST:

- If your book was made into a movie, who would you want to play the lead character and why?

The question of who would play Adam in a movie is an interesting one; he’s not the typical heroic figure and the story doesn’t follow a traditional arc with a singular problem for the main character to solve.

Adam is short and wiry, and handsome in an understated way. He’s kind to others and that adds charm to his features. The description of slender, though, can’t be understood to mean that Adam is weak. He’s born and raised as a farmer, and he has the strength to prove it.

Adam lives most of his life in the confines of very rigid structures: class, education, and hierarchy. He’s also an introvert, who takes action in small ways. The role would require an actor with a lot of ability to convey the character’s internal life with subtle facial expressions. It would have to be someone who could carry the movie largely on their own; this isn’t a story where an ensemble cast could help pull it all off.

Assuming the reality of time is not an obstacle, James McAvoy would make a superb choice for the role. He matches the physical appearance of the character and his acting skills are wonderful. He also has the physicality that would be required to do all the farm labour scenes, to say nothing of the riding and the time spent in the army.

I can only hope that one day horse/man will be made into a film – what a wonderful way to bring to life the characters and relationships that formed the foundation of so much of human civilization!

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GIVEAWAY:

Julia Merritt will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions and the author assume all responsibility for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway