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Bluegrass
When a former nurse with a newly acquired fortune buys a rundown horse-breeding farm, it soon becomes evident that entry into Kentucky's bluegrass country is one thing, and "entree" to Kentucky's blue-blood society is quite another.
- GenresFiction
468 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
1 person is currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Borden Deal
51 books10 followersBorden Deal was an American novelist and short story writer. Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Deal attended Macedonia Consolidated High School, after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest. Before he began writing, his checkered career included work on a showboat, hauling sawdust for a lumber mill, harvesting wheat, a position as auditor for the United States Department of Labor, a telephone solicitor, copywriter, and an anti-aircraft fire control instructor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In 1946, Deal enrolled in The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there he published his first short story, "Exodus". His creative writing professor was Hudson Strode. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree within three years, then enrolled in Mexico City College for graduate study.
It was not until 1956 that Deal decided to become a full-time writer. Among the pseudonyms he used were Loyse Deal, Lee Borden, and Michael Sunga.
A prolific writer, Deal penned twenty-one novels and more than one hundred short stories, many of which appeared in McCall's, Collier's, Saturday Review, and Good Housekeeping. His work has been translated into twenty different languages. A major theme in his canon is man's mystical attachment to the earth and his quest for land, inspired by his family's loss of their property during the Great Depression. The majority of his work is set in the small hamlets of the Deep South. From 1970 Deal also published, under the name "Anonymous", a series of erotic novels with pronoun titles such as Her and Him.
His novel The Insolent Breed served as the basis for the Broadway musical A Joyful Noise. His novel Dunbar's Cove was the basis for the plot of the movie Wild River, starring Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift.
Deal was married twice and had three children. He died of a heart attack in Sarasota, Florida.
In 1946, Deal enrolled in The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there he published his first short story, "Exodus". His creative writing professor was Hudson Strode. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree within three years, then enrolled in Mexico City College for graduate study.
It was not until 1956 that Deal decided to become a full-time writer. Among the pseudonyms he used were Loyse Deal, Lee Borden, and Michael Sunga.
A prolific writer, Deal penned twenty-one novels and more than one hundred short stories, many of which appeared in McCall's, Collier's, Saturday Review, and Good Housekeeping. His work has been translated into twenty different languages. A major theme in his canon is man's mystical attachment to the earth and his quest for land, inspired by his family's loss of their property during the Great Depression. The majority of his work is set in the small hamlets of the Deep South. From 1970 Deal also published, under the name "Anonymous", a series of erotic novels with pronoun titles such as Her and Him.
His novel The Insolent Breed served as the basis for the Broadway musical A Joyful Noise. His novel Dunbar's Cove was the basis for the plot of the movie Wild River, starring Lee Remick and Montgomery Clift.
Deal was married twice and had three children. He died of a heart attack in Sarasota, Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 8, 2020
I absolutely loved this book!
November 27, 2025
Bluegrass by Borden Deal is about a former nurse who unexpectedly inherits a fortune, buys a neglected horse‑breeding farm, and ventures into Kentucky’s exclusive Bluegrass society only to discover that owning land and horses is one challenge, but penetrating the entrenched social world of thoroughbred breeders is quite another.
What struck me most about this story is how it doesn’t romanticize the world it portrays. Early on I was drawn to the heroine, smart, determined, and idealistic, as she buys her ranch and hires a horseman with a checkered past to manage the yard. As she tries to earn her place, the novel reveals the quiet cruelty of exclusion: the snubs, the cold indifference of “insiders,” and the subtle pressure to conform. The tension between her good intentions and the social reality of the horse‑racing world felt painfully real.
By the middle, I found myself rooting for her not just to succeed with horses but to claim dignity, a struggle for respect, identity, and belonging as much as for winning races. The narrative pace occasionally wavered, the climax felt a bit rushed. Still, I appreciated how Deal doesn’t shy away from complexity: there are ambitions, betrayals, and compromises, but also grit, perseverance, and a steady belief in one’s own worth.
If I had to name my biggest take‑away: Bluegrass made me reflect on what it means to belong somewhere when you don’t fit the mold and how passion, patience and resilience can sometimes crack even the hardest social walls.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a moving, atmospheric novel. The character’s journey toward self‑worth and acceptance lingers with you, even if the ending felt slightly hurried.
What struck me most about this story is how it doesn’t romanticize the world it portrays. Early on I was drawn to the heroine, smart, determined, and idealistic, as she buys her ranch and hires a horseman with a checkered past to manage the yard. As she tries to earn her place, the novel reveals the quiet cruelty of exclusion: the snubs, the cold indifference of “insiders,” and the subtle pressure to conform. The tension between her good intentions and the social reality of the horse‑racing world felt painfully real.
By the middle, I found myself rooting for her not just to succeed with horses but to claim dignity, a struggle for respect, identity, and belonging as much as for winning races. The narrative pace occasionally wavered, the climax felt a bit rushed. Still, I appreciated how Deal doesn’t shy away from complexity: there are ambitions, betrayals, and compromises, but also grit, perseverance, and a steady belief in one’s own worth.
If I had to name my biggest take‑away: Bluegrass made me reflect on what it means to belong somewhere when you don’t fit the mold and how passion, patience and resilience can sometimes crack even the hardest social walls.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a moving, atmospheric novel. The character’s journey toward self‑worth and acceptance lingers with you, even if the ending felt slightly hurried.
September 7, 2019
The first part shows how a newly wealthy lady buys a small stud farm in Kentucky intending to keep mares and sell the foals as a business. But she's a newcomer and the local horse people snub her housewarming party which - to be fair - she knew she was holding on the same evening as another party. The washed-up horseman she hires to run the yard, Dancy Clutterbuck (his name was shortened to Cutler for the TV adaptation) drinks too much but refuses to sign for a delivery of bad hay, insisting on better, and he's the one who chooses the mares.
A young colt is being raced and his owner is furious because he loses, and threatens to have him destroyed. Rather than see this happen to a lovely black colt our heroine offers to buy him. She is told she can have him on condition she never races him. So now she has a stallion.
One older mare is bought and her bloodlines look to be a good nick with the stallion - but she dies after foaling a lovely dark colt. This colt is aimed at the yearling sales but the bidding is derisory and there was no reserve. Our heroine has to bid herself to win him back. All she can do to spite the snobby horse folks is train the colt herself, or rather get Dancy to do it.
A young colt is being raced and his owner is furious because he loses, and threatens to have him destroyed. Rather than see this happen to a lovely black colt our heroine offers to buy him. She is told she can have him on condition she never races him. So now she has a stallion.
One older mare is bought and her bloodlines look to be a good nick with the stallion - but she dies after foaling a lovely dark colt. This colt is aimed at the yearling sales but the bidding is derisory and there was no reserve. Our heroine has to bid herself to win him back. All she can do to spite the snobby horse folks is train the colt herself, or rather get Dancy to do it.
September 24, 2024
De eerste 200 pagina's van het boek waren goed. Eenmaal naar het einde toe gebeurde er teveel, te snel waardoor in mijn mening het verhaal achteruit ging.
Het boek mocht gerust een 100 pagina's langer zijn om het einde minder gerusht te laten zijn.
Het boek mocht gerust een 100 pagina's langer zijn om het einde minder gerusht te laten zijn.
May 10, 2022
A nurse, left 6 million dollars in the will of a deceased client, strives to establish a thoroughbred stud farm in Kentucky. A Literary Guild selection.
March 15, 2015
This book was sold in UK as a two-parter.
The first part shows how a newly wealthy lady buys a small stud farm in Kentucky intending to keep mares and sell the foals as a business. But she's a newcomer and the local horse people snub her housewarming party which - to be fair - she knew she was holding on the same evening as another party. The washed-up horseman she hires to run the yard, Dancy Clutterbuck (his name was shortened to Cutler for the TV adaptation) drinks too much but refuses to sign for a delivery of bad hay, insisting on better, and he's the one who chooses the mares.
A young colt is being raced and his owner is furious because he loses, and threatens to have him destroyed. Rather than see this happen to a lovely black colt our heroine offers to buy him. She is told she can have him on condition she never races him. So now she has a stallion.
One older mare is bought and her bloodlines look to be a good nick with the stallion - but she dies after foaling a lovely dark colt. This colt is aimed at the yearling sales but the bidding is derisory and there was no reserve. Our heroine has to bid herself to win him back. All she can do to spite the snobby horse folks is train the colt herself, or rather get Dancy to do it.
In Book Two we meet a couple of young jockeys, Whitey and a young lady who is hired after Whitey is fired. They begin a grudge match as the black colt grows and is aimed at serious races. A social secretary is hired and begins to improve our heroine's social standing. The stud owner is told by her accountant that she needs to show a profit every few years, or the Revenue will assume she is keeping horses as a hobby not a business and no expense will be tax-allowable. To overcome the clannishness of the locals she also needs a big win to bring horse breeders to her stallions and get them to buy her foals. So all depends on the major races of the year.
This is well written but does show a one-sided picture of the local people, who I'm sure are kind and neighbourly, but maybe just didn't like an intruder in their cosy little cartel. As a horsewoman I enjoyed this very much and it is also an understated romance. The TV adaption is good.
September 9, 2013
Book from the 70's about a horse-racing-obsessed woman who unexpectedly comes into some money and establishes a Thoroughbred breeding farm in Kentucky. I almost didn't finish this book because it annoyed me in the beginning -- the heroine was kind of Mary-Sue-ish. But that stopped after a few chapters, and I started to enjoy the book.
What the heroine discovers is that the world of Thoroughbred racehorse breeding is something of a closed social network, one she is not welcome in. She also has a hard time hiring people at first because a lot of men don't want to work for a woman. (Remember, written in the 70's.) Even after she starts to get established, and has managed to acquire a few good horses and breed her first generation of foals, she attempts to hold an Open House for her farm and is humiliated when no one shows up.
She's very persistent, though, and over time learns how to penetrate this rarefied social circle. There was a particularly interesting subplot featuring an Italian nobleman whose family estate was confiscated after WWII, and who now lives essentially as a professional houseguest of the rich and famous.
However, the book did lose me a bit when it started to focus on the relationships between the people to such an extent that the horses fell completely into the background. I was also really annoyed with the handling of a sociopathic character who attempts to rape one of the stable hands. His only punishment is to be beaten up by the stable hand's boyfriend. He doesn't even lose his job, and goes on to ride the farm's best colt in stakes races.
I know, written in the 70's. But it really aggravated me and is the reason I'm giving the book 3 stars instead of 4.
What the heroine discovers is that the world of Thoroughbred racehorse breeding is something of a closed social network, one she is not welcome in. She also has a hard time hiring people at first because a lot of men don't want to work for a woman. (Remember, written in the 70's.) Even after she starts to get established, and has managed to acquire a few good horses and breed her first generation of foals, she attempts to hold an Open House for her farm and is humiliated when no one shows up.
She's very persistent, though, and over time learns how to penetrate this rarefied social circle. There was a particularly interesting subplot featuring an Italian nobleman whose family estate was confiscated after WWII, and who now lives essentially as a professional houseguest of the rich and famous.
However, the book did lose me a bit when it started to focus on the relationships between the people to such an extent that the horses fell completely into the background. I was also really annoyed with the handling of a sociopathic character who attempts to rape one of the stable hands. His only punishment is to be beaten up by the stable hand's boyfriend. He doesn't even lose his job, and goes on to ride the farm's best colt in stakes races.
I know, written in the 70's. But it really aggravated me and is the reason I'm giving the book 3 stars instead of 4.
May 10, 2016
I hadn't read anything from this author before, and it was marginally entertaining, for the most part. I didn't like about 25% of the book at all, but was more than halfway through so struggled through the tedious, canned-goods-as-caviar section and the end was fitting. This wasn't something that will go down as one of the more entertaining reads, nor one with classic, true literature tendencies, and it became pretty predictable, and overused a handful of words.
I do have to comment on something I noticed in another review...the reader, someone who loved this book, kept remarking about the main horse in the book being a bay. The horse was NOT a bay, he was a chestnut, and the color is emphasized so heavily in the book that I am left wondering if she even read it at all. Just a side note....
Basically, Bluegrass was okay. I guess. I won't be reading more from the author.
I do have to comment on something I noticed in another review...the reader, someone who loved this book, kept remarking about the main horse in the book being a bay. The horse was NOT a bay, he was a chestnut, and the color is emphasized so heavily in the book that I am left wondering if she even read it at all. Just a side note....
Basically, Bluegrass was okay. I guess. I won't be reading more from the author.
January 10, 2010
Excellent book about the Horse Racing industry in Kentucky.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews