Enid Bagnold – лучшие книги

A butcher's daughter in a small Sussex town ends her nightly prayers with "Oh, God, give me horses, give me horses! Let me be the best rider in England!" The answer to 14-year-old Velvet Brown's plea materializes in the form of an unwanted piebald, raffled off in a village lottery, who turns out to be adept at jumping fences--exactly the sort of horse that could win the world's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National.
Richly atmospheric of rural life in England between the World Wars, National Velvet has enchanted generations of readers since its 1935 debut. The heroine's grit and determination, backed by the support of her eccentric and loving family, offer an inspiring example of the struggles and rewards of following a dream.

The most famous and loved racing story of all time. National Velvet is a classic tale of dreams, ambition and one girl's belief in a horse.
'Velvet'll sit on a horse like a shadow and breathe her soul into it… I never seen such a creature on a horse.'
Fourteen year old Velvet is mad about horses. When she wins a piebald horse in a raffle, she knows he's something special. His heart is as big as the five-foot fences he jumps, and he'll do anything for Velvet. Soon, she and her friend Mi have their sights set on the biggest race in England. But can a girl win the Grand National?
Perfect for horse and ponly lovers from nine to ninety nine years old. The book that inspired the classic film starring Elizabeth Taylor, National Velvet is a true classic of print and screen. Alongside Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka it is one of the great horse books for children.

The scene of most of this novel is France, and the milieu is aristocratic, yet the chief characters are Scottish or American. Lady Maclean, wife of Sir Gynt, is the heroine. She had been -- and still is -- a great beauty. A the Chateau of Little Pouilly she holds her court. The courtiers are mostly ageing members of the French nobility. Some are in love with her, all are her admirers. Women admire her, too. She has wit and charm as well as beauty. The secret of her spell is not divulged to the reader. Indeed, the spell itself has to be taken on trust, though its potency, its effect, can be observed.

But 'beauty vanishes, youth passes, however rare, rare it be.' This is a story of the evanescence of youth and beauty, a story of growing old, gracefully and contentedly if possible, seeing love survive or wither away. It is a story especially of a mother and daughter, each wanting to be loved by the other, each aware that their relationship lacked the one thing to make it perfect.

No novel of recent years has penetrated so deeply into the mysteries of human love in all its manifestations or dwelt so wisely and beautifully on the theme of encroaching age.