One of my favourites
Feb. 15th, 2010 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookaddict43British author Dick Francis has died at age 89.
His were some of the first 'adult' novels I ever read.
Back in the day (I was about 10) I'd read my way through the children's section of the library and was looking for something to read. Since there wasn't much around in 'teenage' literature at the time (I'm old remember)I moved over to the adult area and picked up one of his books because it had a horse on the cover. I've read every book of his since and own about 40 out of the 42. Every now and then, I drag out one of my favourites and give it a re-read.
If you've never read them, his books are all set around the world of British horse racing. Not all the heroes are jockeys though. There are wine merchants, piltos, investigators, artists, horse trainers, movie directors and glass blowers.
The most recent re-read I did was Decider. Lee Morris is an architect and builder who is reluctantly drawn into a family dispute over a racecourse.
Unusually for one of Francis' books, his hero actually has a family life and I love the characters of Lee's six boys. The horse racing itself is incidental to this story which focuses more on the dynamics of both Lee's family and those of the Strattons who are arguing over the racecourse. Lee, like many of Francis' characters, is a fairly ordinary guy good at his job, who then uses his knowledge to get him out of some difficult situations. Along the way he meets his half-sister for the first time, saves the life of his son and helps find a solution to the impasse over the racecourse. I'm always kind of sad for him at the end, but admire how he makes the best of circumstances thrust upon him.
His were some of the first 'adult' novels I ever read.
Back in the day (I was about 10) I'd read my way through the children's section of the library and was looking for something to read. Since there wasn't much around in 'teenage' literature at the time (I'm old remember)I moved over to the adult area and picked up one of his books because it had a horse on the cover. I've read every book of his since and own about 40 out of the 42. Every now and then, I drag out one of my favourites and give it a re-read.
If you've never read them, his books are all set around the world of British horse racing. Not all the heroes are jockeys though. There are wine merchants, piltos, investigators, artists, horse trainers, movie directors and glass blowers.
The most recent re-read I did was Decider. Lee Morris is an architect and builder who is reluctantly drawn into a family dispute over a racecourse.
Unusually for one of Francis' books, his hero actually has a family life and I love the characters of Lee's six boys. The horse racing itself is incidental to this story which focuses more on the dynamics of both Lee's family and those of the Strattons who are arguing over the racecourse. Lee, like many of Francis' characters, is a fairly ordinary guy good at his job, who then uses his knowledge to get him out of some difficult situations. Along the way he meets his half-sister for the first time, saves the life of his son and helps find a solution to the impasse over the racecourse. I'm always kind of sad for him at the end, but admire how he makes the best of circumstances thrust upon him.
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Date: 2010-02-16 04:36 pm (UTC)