Kathryn Scanlan. Daunt Books, (165p) ISBN: 9781914198250. Contemporary Fiction, read 13/04/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Kick the Latch

I originally thought this was a collection of short stories and in a way it is, it is an episodic fictionalised account of a woman’s life, but taken from transcripts of an actual person.

The stories of Sonia from Iowa and the track her life took, working with horse for the majority of her life therefore the majority of the short episodes are based on her experiences with horses at racetracks and more.

We start off with some really interesting snippets from her earlier life and her gradually falling in love with horse.

There is nothing sugar-coated in this collection of incidents, they show the hard life Sonia goes through, the ups and downs, the bumps (some massive), and the camaraderie of the backsiders, the behind. the scenes people of horse racing in the US.

With each episode you get to know Sonia and her world that little bit better, the normalisation of the hard life, the rough and tumble, but always that love of horses and the world that circles around them.

Each episode is short and sharp with no fat to soften the blow that the lyricism of Kathryn Scanlan’s words bring to the hard life that Sonia has lived.

I read this so easily, it was a searing story that really kept you hooked from start to finish.