“The Scorpio Races” by Maggie Stiefvater

Capaill Uisce. Mythical water horses who come charging out of the sea once a year to devour whatever they can find on land. Because of this, “Scorpio Races” is labeled as a fantasy book. It is anything but. And, because of the age of the protagonists, it is also labeled as a YA novel. Again, like “Code Name Verity”, I would disagree. This tremendously complex novel is set in on the small island of Thisby along the coast of Scotland/Ireland/Canada/England/France in the 1940s/1950s/1960s. Which is to say, it isn’t real. But (minus the meat-eating horses) it could be. You have a small town of fisherman, and once a year there is a crowd-drawing horse-race where great prizes can be won and lives can be lost. You have two young people, both orphans, both dependent on winning this year’s race in order to gain … their freedom, their security, their dream ??? Like “Pinned” this is a book where the athletics of the horse-race are coupled with a budding romance. Also, like “Pinned,” it is hard to warm up to the protagonists because they are prickly, moody and superior. After that, however, the comparisons end. Here, the writing is superior. Think “Hemingway-esque.” While I never fully engaged with the characters, “Puck” and “Sean”, I felt fully immersed in the story – told with all the atmospheric indulgence one might hear while sitting in an Irish pub in Galway with a pint of Guinness by your side. Eponymous names – the town of Skarmouth and the evil landlord Malvern, enrich a land where the sea, the air and even the animals all bring sensation to the tale. Skarmouth is described as “inky” by both Puck and Sean and the people are exactly what you might imagine … scarred and colorful and, at times, simple. This book is an award-winner and it is easy to see why. I could analyze every chapter over and over again. But it’s not a YA book – unless the words “halcyon” and “guillemot” are part of a typical teen vocabulary. With very little action, other than the actual race (which happens in a scant few pages near the end of the book) this story is more about making choices, stepping up, and daring to dream. Despite the fairy horses, the greatest improbability here is whether a girl can win a race that no woman has ever entered. In other words, it’s not a “turn the page to see what happens next” book, and it has circulated little since it arrived in the library. And it’s not really about the love-interest either, which plays, IMHO, a background role in the book until the end. For me, it was also not a book where you see yourself in the characters.  My emotional connections were actually with the animals and I shed a tear or two at the end … but not over the loss of human life. It’s a book that feels much older than the 2012 copyright – like something my parents might have read growing up. It’s sad that it has been categorized as a fantasy since that crowd is not likely to seek it out. While rich and brilliant, I see this one being picked up mostly by fans of horses, historical fiction and a patient reader who likes to immerse themselves in another world. One far from the technological busyness of the modern era. If you are willing to take the plunge, go for it. It’s worth the visit.