The Enchanted

by Charlotte Bingham

When Kathleen finds a mare in foal, despite the fact that she and her father can barely afford to feed her, they take her in. Tragically the mare dies, leaving an orphan that they name The Enchanted. As the young horse grows up among Ireland’s lush pastures, Kathleen loses her heart to him . . .

But as Kathleen has always feared The Enchanted must be sold. Rory James and his father take a chance on the little horse in the hope of improving the fortune of their run-down racing yard. But luck does not run Rory’s way when The Enchanted mysteriously sickens. It seems that only Kathleen can help. And it is only under her care that The Enchanted is able to live up to his name and astonishing things start to happen to all those around him.

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published June 29, 2009

About the author

The Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.

In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this book. I thought it would be more after the style of the Mitford sisiters.
The story for most of the book is a very slow and rather uninteresting love story based on relationship between hero & heoine and a horse. In the beginning were slightly surreal overtones and if this had been developed a little more I think it would have added more interest.
However the finale gallopped along at a gripping pace and saved the book from oblivion.

[Pam Masters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble getting into the story. The first 5 chapters kept introducing new characters who's stories did not seem to go together. It was hard wanting to "care" about the characters when you couldn't see a connection between them. Once the connections were made, it was a great story. I found myself cheering for the little horse that no one thought could do anything in the racing world.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely book. An easy relaxing, enjoyable read with a simple outline that you do not have to think to much about. No complicated plots or characters to try and follow. At some points in life this sort of book is 'what the doctor would order'. If you like horses you definitely need to read this.

[Janine Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant

Really enjoyed this book. Not read one of Charlotte Bingham's for a while but I will now be catching up on the ones I haved missed. Loved this horsey theme and enchantingly happy ending

[Jill]

I don't know if you would like this if you don't like horses...but since I still do. It's about a little race horse in Ireland and how he draws people together..

[Louise Horrocks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable
One pick though, the characters repeating themselves became a bit tiresome and more like the repetitions were just to add extra words

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple light reading but still enjoyable

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book that every horse or horse racing fan should read.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A feel-good read - not terribly complicated but very enjoyable.