What do you think?
Rate this book
Brumby #1
Silverhingsten
The first story of young Joey Meehan, the wild Australian brumby herd, and of a wild silver Pegasus of a horse.
157 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
94 people want to read
About the author
Mary Elwyn Patchett
88 books10 followersMary Elwyn Patchett (1897 - 1989) was an Australian author who lived most of her life in Britain.
She grew up on a cattle station in Texas, Queensland.
After working as a journalist in Australia, she lived and worked in England from 1931. Although she only returned to Australia for holidays, it is there that her books are set.
She died in Berkshire in 1989.
She grew up on a cattle station in Texas, Queensland.
After working as a journalist in Australia, she lived and worked in England from 1931. Although she only returned to Australia for holidays, it is there that her books are set.
She died in Berkshire in 1989.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 26, 2012
I read this book over and over again when I was a child.
Amazingly, I still have it and it's in pretty good condition.
My mother read it before me, her name is faded on the inside cover. I think I found it on a raid in the garage one day.
Quite moving for a book about horses. I don't recall the storyline, but I do remember the imagery and the emotions it brought.
It didn't make it to the charity pile this time, and I think it'll be read again before I consider letting it go once more.
Amazingly, I still have it and it's in pretty good condition.
My mother read it before me, her name is faded on the inside cover. I think I found it on a raid in the garage one day.
Quite moving for a book about horses. I don't recall the storyline, but I do remember the imagery and the emotions it brought.
It didn't make it to the charity pile this time, and I think it'll be read again before I consider letting it go once more.
February 21, 2015
Was one of my all time favorite books as a child, I even wrote a short story loosely based on it! Although I can read it in about 5 minutes now, its still worth the read for all the brumby lovers out there!
May 24, 2013
A truly beautiful story. The author gives a great insight into the life of a small community in outback New South Wales. The loneliness of a little boy who finds a brumby herd on his fathers property is captured vividly.
October 6, 2023
When I began this, I had two problems. The first was that I kept confusing it with The Silver Brumby, a series I adore with a fierce and heartfelt passion, and it took a while for me to disentangle The Brumby from that. Both books are set in similar spaces, feature a horse called Yarraman, and a silver brumby. I even got to the point of wondering whether they were the same authors and had to do some research before I could satisfactorily figure out who was who and what was what.
My second issue was that this felt a little slow, a little stiff, and I wasn't quite sure if there was going to be enough space in it for me as a reader. Some texts can feel tight like that and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just that they need to be told and don't necessarily need to be heard by me. Or sometimes it's that my reading and the context that I bring to it don't connect. Not everything is everybody and that's okay. And for a long time I wondered if this was going to be one of them.
And then all of a sudden, I started to understand it. The Brumby is a story that's cut from the same cloth as things like My Friend Flicka and For Love of a Horse and it is really rather good. You know the drill: a child wants - needs - a horse. The child is lonely in a way that, perhaps, they do not completely understand or even realise. They seek completion. And the horse will provide that. They will love and through that love learn what life can be.
The child at the heart of The Brumby is Joey; a boy who lives in the countryside in a place past the end of everything. This is the wild edge of the known world and it is brutal. Life is hard and often violent. People make choices that are not easy nor are they wise. The day can turn dark, so very swiftly.
Patchett understands how difficult life can be in this space and what it takes to survive that and trusts the reader to understand that as well. Chapters shift from Joey's perspective through to that of the brumbies and somehow it never loses track. It's full of such respect for the reader. And I respect that immeasurably. I respect how Patchett goes to the reader: love is wonderful but it costs and sometimes it might hurt and sometimes you might lose everything. It's bare boned, emotional, vicious, and often incredible stuff.
(It's important to note that I do read this as an adult and so, younger readers might still find some of this difficult to handle. If they're managing something like Green Grass of Wyoming and particularly the more adult angles such as Nell's story, then I think they'll be alright).
My second issue was that this felt a little slow, a little stiff, and I wasn't quite sure if there was going to be enough space in it for me as a reader. Some texts can feel tight like that and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just that they need to be told and don't necessarily need to be heard by me. Or sometimes it's that my reading and the context that I bring to it don't connect. Not everything is everybody and that's okay. And for a long time I wondered if this was going to be one of them.
And then all of a sudden, I started to understand it. The Brumby is a story that's cut from the same cloth as things like My Friend Flicka and For Love of a Horse and it is really rather good. You know the drill: a child wants - needs - a horse. The child is lonely in a way that, perhaps, they do not completely understand or even realise. They seek completion. And the horse will provide that. They will love and through that love learn what life can be.
The child at the heart of The Brumby is Joey; a boy who lives in the countryside in a place past the end of everything. This is the wild edge of the known world and it is brutal. Life is hard and often violent. People make choices that are not easy nor are they wise. The day can turn dark, so very swiftly.
Patchett understands how difficult life can be in this space and what it takes to survive that and trusts the reader to understand that as well. Chapters shift from Joey's perspective through to that of the brumbies and somehow it never loses track. It's full of such respect for the reader. And I respect that immeasurably. I respect how Patchett goes to the reader: love is wonderful but it costs and sometimes it might hurt and sometimes you might lose everything. It's bare boned, emotional, vicious, and often incredible stuff.
(It's important to note that I do read this as an adult and so, younger readers might still find some of this difficult to handle. If they're managing something like Green Grass of Wyoming and particularly the more adult angles such as Nell's story, then I think they'll be alright).
February 4, 2024
I found The Brumby on a clearance shelf at Half Price Books and grabbed it for the "Book Set Primarily in Australia" category of the RA Reading Challenge.
The book reminds me more of Jack London's novels than anything else. It's harsh and brutal at times, refusing to paint over the realities of life for wild animals in Australia, or the heartbreak that comes with loving them. Patchett refuses to cheapen the story with a trite, perfectly tied-up happy ending, and leaves us with something lovely--hope.
The book reminds me more of Jack London's novels than anything else. It's harsh and brutal at times, refusing to paint over the realities of life for wild animals in Australia, or the heartbreak that comes with loving them. Patchett refuses to cheapen the story with a trite, perfectly tied-up happy ending, and leaves us with something lovely--hope.
June 14, 2020
Bästa boken när jag växte upp om vackra Silverhingsten och den föräldralösa Joe Meehan och de efterkommande böckerna om Silverhingstens son och ritten över Australien när Joe Meehan kommit upp i vuxen ålder.
Omslagsbilden ägs av Bokantikvariatet Boknörden: https://19737.shop.textalk.se/bocker/...
Omslagsbilden ägs av Bokantikvariatet Boknörden: https://19737.shop.textalk.se/bocker/...
May 21, 2013
Chronicles of Han Storm Book Club Read
For a horse nut, most stories about horses are acceptable, but this one became a favourite. The Brumby now entertains my own children who enjoy it with me.
For a horse nut, most stories about horses are acceptable, but this one became a favourite. The Brumby now entertains my own children who enjoy it with me.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews