Well, here we are.
I almost didn’t write this. When I realised I’d have to come up with a name for this newsletter, I almost deleted Substack entirely. Even though I am exceptional at naming things with faces; see characters, stuffed toys, pets and human children, I am terrible at naming my work; see poems, novels, blogs, bookshops… but I love to read books, and I love to talk about them.
I’ll write to you here, whoever you are, about books and writing and some things in between. I can’t promise you a coherent theme or format, but what I lack in routine and clarity, I more than make up for with unbridled enthusiasm, which is fitting, because my first recommendation is a horse book.
Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan (Daunt Books)
YOU CHECK IT, YOU SHAKE IT
Too often my head thinks it wants stories that reflect me, in my life. I could be persuaded to buy ninety-nine books about a young writer, feeling their way through friendship, love, the city, whatever. But the truth is, my heart doesn’t beat faster until I’m invited into places I’ll never go, until I cross paths with people I’ll never meet, until I’m reminded what it’s like to not be me.
If a book can get me in at a brand new door, if it can be formally inventive at the same time, well for me, that’s winning. In Kick the Latch, we win*.
THIS HORSE, THIS RACE
Written in short vignettes, drawn from conversations, Kick the Latch patchworks the life of a woman raised around the racetracks. For Sonia, there is nothing but horses. She grows to be a skilled trainer, a constant grafter, a reliable and knowledgeable part of a community that is as dangerous as it is protective.
It’s a landscape filled with risk and violence; legs are shattered, necks are broken, bodies are piled up, drink and drugs are rife, men feel entitled, women are outnumbered. But it’s a community built on shared passion for horses and racing, people grow skilled beyond their opportunities and respected beyond their disadvantages. Sonia shares stories that sparkle with larger-than-life characters, recounting memories that sing off the page; it feels like an honour to hear them.
Her language is particular, her stories are brief; they’re brutal, they’re beautiful. She’s tender to the underdogs and she’s brave in the face of an industry dominated by men. In one fleeting chapter called ‘I Seen Him Every Day’, Sonia recounts her rape with the same matter-of-factness as the roof that leaked, half the finger that she lost, the knives she kept, just in case.
‘It was bad, but anyway, I survived.’
When Sonia finds herself ‘at the bottom of the pile’ of a collision of horses and jockeys she notes that the ‘crowd was traumatized.’ ‘It was a death experience.’
The experience was hers. She lists her horrific injuries. It’s shocking. It’s normal. She is simply telling you that she kept on surviving.
GRANDSTANDING
It’s fitting that the first book I’m reviewing on Terrible at Titles is so good at them. Each vignette has a title; they’re words lifted from the section but in isolation they’re wry, angled; they cast their own shadow over the words they introduce. It’s a feature that reminds you you’re reading a construction. The words might be Sonia’s but the symphony is Scanlan’s. She’s the one with the reins here, leading you out onto the track, lashing the story along, grazing when you need a moment. It’s so skilfully done; sparsely told but richly realised. That particular language, that particular world, suddenly available to us and in such splendid company.
I want to assure you that an interest in the equine is not a pre-requisite to the appreciation of this book and I beg you not to see it as a barrier. If it’s a hurdle, just jump it. This book is an invitation. Witness this life. Hear these stories. Experience this world. Here’s a writer that’s attempting dressage on the page; exerting a control of language that is so precise that to the rest of us it looks like dancing. I think it’s majestic.
You can pre-order KICK THE LATCH here.
Further reading: If you liked Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan why not try Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers, or Kate Beaton’s DUCKS.
* You’ll get it when you read the book. Read the book.
You can visit my bookshop here : Storytellers, Inc. Bookshop UK
Cor blimey, you started here with a bang, Katie! This is a spectacular review. Adding the book to my list immediately (tbh you had me at ‘vignettes’ 😂)
Thanks for linking to this Katie. Great read, and this sounds like a very interesting book. If I'm ever out your way in the UK then I'll be sure to swing by the shop 😊