[.ca] Where White Horses Gallop: A Novel (ISBN 1552639150)

Gothic jewel from Cape Breton rips open the heart.:
This book lingers like a war painting from a sentimental old master, still seeing the lilly beside a rotting corpse, the beautiful curve in a woman's mouth as she is paraded down a street covered in tar and feathers.... and still accepting the humanity of the insane. I couldn't put it down and when I did, I dreamed about it.

A Must Read for All Canadians:
Where White Horses Gallop is a beautiful book. Set in Cape Breton, near the beginning of World War II, the reader is introduced to a small community of characters. Three young men go off to fight in Europe while one remains home fighting his own war. MacNeil's ability to make you see the community and feel their happiness and their pain is profound. The sense of loss of one community to the ravages of war, both through losses on the fields of battle and losses after the war, are indicative of losses felt throughout our country during this time. I was moved by the language, the beauty of small things and the tremendous sacrifice made by so many. This book tells a lesson through these lives that we all know. And we all know we should never forget. Reading this wonderful work of fiction made it all real to me again. Beatrice MacNeil is a wonderful new Canadian author! I encourage everyone to read this book!