In 1956, Harry De Leyer, a riding instructor at a Long Island girls' school, spent $80 on a horse that was bound for the slaughterhouse. He thought the animal might make a good horse for his students. But the horse, named Snowman by Harry's four-year-old daughter, turned out to be much more a champion show-jumper. This book is sure to appeal to fans of Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit (2001) and William Nack's Big Red of Meadow Stable (1975), about Secretariat, but should exert appeal beyond that of its equine theme. The school at which De Leyer worked, the Knox School, was, Letts says. a relic from another era. an intensely disciplined place dedicated to self-improvement, wher. little room remained for relaxation or levity. In the mid-1950s, the place seemed an anachronism, and Letts does an excellent job of contrasting the staid atmosphere of the school with the world outside. A fascinating, extremely well-told story.--Pitt, Davi. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Letts (Quality of Care) raises expectations in her newest book by claiming national inspiration in the subtitle. Snowman was a plow horse bought off the slaughter truck for $80 by Danish immigrant Harry de Leyer. Snowman's appearance masked superior jumping talents, and de Leyer took him to the top of the "expensive.... equestrian world [that] was one of the last bastions of the upper-class elite." The events occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s; however, Letts doesn't quite establish the context, and it's not clear how a horse provided inspiration for workers "starved for dreams" amid "terrifying fears of nuclear age tensions." Diversions such as the decline of the American horse population offer little insight, and nonequestrians will occasionally be puzzled by the lingo, particularly with respect to equine anatomy. Still, Letts is a solid prose stylist; her vivid descriptions of staid Long Island with its "gentle meadows ringed by dogwood trees" provide virtual tours, but it is de Leyer's realization of the American dream that is the real story. Photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.