Khazan: The horse that came out of the sea

by Joyce Stranger

Genres: Animals, Horses, British Literature, Fiction

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Psuedonym of Joyce Muriel Wilson (1921–2007). Lived in Anglesey, Wales.
Trained as a biologist, specialising in animal behaviour, and tried her hand at dog training too. Not surprisingly, animal themes, especially relationships between human and animal feature in all of her books. She thought that the human-animal/human-nature relationship was extremely important and that a co-existence between the two could improve quality of life. She said "for many people an animal can provide a harmony lacking in day-to-day relationships with people."
Her books are not very anthropomorphic, deliberately so. She thought that many animal books, especially childrens were inaccurate or sentimental or humanised the animal and wanted her stories instead to "show how animals live in a world that is real to them"
They are definitely not sentimental either, many are quite downbeat. Disasters often strike her fictional worlds and her characters are often unhappy, guilt-stricken or remorseful. However they usually end on a more upbeat and optimistic note.
Ms. Stranger was one of the few authors to write horse stories aimed at adults. Most of her pony books are either adult or teenage stories.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely horse story - written for adults (teenagers, also.) A horse trapped in a ship during a raging storm in the Irish Sea swims to safety, but is dying when found by a 14 year old girl named Debbie. Of course, he saves the humans in the story, and thankfully, doesn't die in the end. I loved it and teared up often.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am revisiting books I loved as a young adult - really enjoyed this again :) Joyce Stranger certainly had an affinity with animals and I’ll look forward to reading. more of these stories soon

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Excellent