The Lady

By the time she's thirteen Catriona Carradynes is aware that all is not exactly well with her mother. The Caradynes are horse folk, bred to the bone for generations back. Catriona's mother is not. For Catriona, there is nothing better than horses, whether riden, breathed in, sketched or written about, they're pretty much all she thinks about. They're also everything her rigidly religious mother doesn't want for her youngest daughter.

Well and good, you may be thinking. It's another story about a teenage girl who loves horses and her overbearing parents.

But it's more than that. McCaffrey winds together emotionally charged strands of story - she doesn't pull back from sensitive issues, covering religion, divorce, abuse, the nature of love show more and foregiveness and growing up. This is no fairy tale, and the happy ending - okay, there is a happy ending - is hard fought, but well earned.

It's Catriona's story, but it's also the story of the Carradyne family, and a look at an Ireland in transition. (And there are plenty of horses, too.) show less

Oh, lovely. It's a horse story, and a coming-of-age story; it's about the rather nasty dissolution of a marriage or three, but there's hope and happiness as well (one new marriage, and maybe a future one). And a lovely happy ending. Great story, and just what I needed right now.

I gave up in high school reading horse books...that's because most of the stories were for young readers and I'd read them all. The only adult story with horses I knew about was Mary Stewart's Airs Above the Ground. So I turned to SciFi and Fantasy and via that found Anne McCaffrey. Found "The Lady" when I was searching for any of Anne's books I hadn't read. It was a wonderful story centered mainly about horses with details about riding and training in the Irish style. Then there were excellent characters and a more complex adult plot line. Even the romance is a bit more realistic than most. I've had problems with some pop romance books like 'Bridges of Madison County" and the "Horse Whisperer" because of the extra marital affair, this show more affair I could deal with due to the pressures of Ireland's "No Divorce" allowed laws and the fact that there's no doubt that love no longer exists in one marriage and the other becomes abusive. show less

They are the Carradynes, who for more than 200 years have bred and trained horses of the finest caliber on Cornanagh—a land so beautiful it inspires the soul.

But all is not idyllic at hearth and home. At the center of the conflict is Catriona, the youngest child, a girl who dreams of riding her family’s big jumpers and show horses. Her father, Michael, is keenly aware of her immense talent, and he urges her on—only to lock wills with his insufferably pious and overbearing wife, Isabel, a woman who cannot bear horses, who cannot bear his touch. Her goal is to put stiff dresses, tight shoes, and perfect manners on Catriona.

It is a stalemate of pride and passion—until the day Lady Selina Healy enters their lives. Poised, beautiful, show more and warm, she too knows imprisonment in a loveless marriage, she too admires good horses, she too finds enchantment in Cornanagh. She falls in love . . . with Catriona, who becomes the child she never had; with the splendid lush land; and with Michael, the consummate horseman and gentleman.

Set in Ireland, during the 1970's, it the story of the Carradynes, who have raised horses for 200 years. I loved this because, we are now viewing the 70's as history and it gave me an interesting perspective of the history of Ireland at that time, they were still embroiled in the Catholic rules of marriage (I know nothing of that) and girls hadn't gained the freedom of Americans.

Michael Carradyne, raises, shows and boards horses and also trains riders. His youngest daughter
Catriona, is a natural rider and wants nothing more than to go as far as she can in being a rider, however her mother who is a pious and religious woman, expects her daughter to be the same, Catriona is held between her natural desire and her mother's expectations.

When Lady Selina Healy, takes an interest in Catriona, it saves her from some of her mother's expectations. But times are changing, one of Catriona's cousins from America is coming to spend the summer with them to improve her riding, and her father's desire for her to excel is in direct opposition to her mother's push for more restrained behavior.

This story involves, family dynamics, marital strife, teen anguish, community unrest, vicious neighbors and a beautiful Lady who, has her own problems. Great saga material! show less

As I'm going to be in Ireland this summer for WorldCon, I thought it would be a good idea to reread the 2 McCaffrey 'Irish' books, of which this is one.

A family saga set in Ireland near Dublin, this tells the story of events one summer in the late 60s at the Cornanagh Stud, which has been in the Carradyne family for over 200 years. The incumbent Carradyne is Michael, and as the story opens he is resident with his wife, Isabel, one son, Philip, and his last child, Catriona. Also resident on the estate are his widowed sister-in-law, Eithne, and her son, Owen. Two of Michael's other children are still resident in Ireland, the other two live abroad (and take no part in the story).

I won't call it a romance, although there is romance show more involved, but saga is a better description given the feud Michael gets caught up in with a neighbour. Neither is it particularly sweeping in scope; it's very domestic in scale, events revolve around daily life at Cornanagh, training and caring for horses, with excursions to various horsey events.

Lightweight but recommended. show less

Anne McCaffrey is famous for the Dragonriders of Pern and the Crystal Singer book series. There are no dragons or crystals in this book, just a lot of horses and ponies, and it isn't set on Pern, but in Ireland. The focus of each chapter jumps from Michael Carradyne, the owner of Cornanagh stud farm and training stables; to his horse-crazy daughter and youngest child, Catriona; his frigid wife, Isabel; and the neighbor woman trapped in a loveless and abusive marriage, Selina Healey. There are villagers, hired hands and politicians thrown in, along with plenty of action. Although the book seems a trifle disjointed and has a great many characters and animals to keep straight, everything gets sorted out in the end. Anne McCaffrey died in show more 2011, and I, for one, will miss her writing. Especially the dragons. show less

A touching story of people and horses. one child growing to be a lady struggles with the pressures of life and find happiness in horses and the Lady who enters her life. A man who raises horses all his life finds The Lady is the woman meant for him and his horses. The Lady herself finds peace and joy with the man and his family and all the Horses at Cornanagh.