The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr - review

The Winter Horses is set during WW2, in Ukraine. The character is a young girl named Kalinka, who is fleeing from the Nazis after her family were killed for being Jews. Also being hunted by the Nazi soldiers are the Przewalskis horses, an ancient breed thought not good enough for the Nazi ideals. A reserve in Ukraine is the home of some of the last remaining Przewalskis horses, and also home to Max: an old man determined to save both the horses and Kalinka. Whilst on the run, Kalinka meets a herd of the horses on the nature reserve and befriends two in particular, a mare and a stallion. When almost all of the horses are shot by Nazi soldiers, Kalinka begins a desperate journey to get both herself and the horses to safety.

Though I enjoyed reading this book, it was clear that it was targeted at a younger age group. Parts of the story seemed to be dumbed down slightly and a bit unrealistic, which is unusual for a story based around the war, where events are usual very harsh and emotional. The relationship between Kalinka and the horses wasn't particularly believable either, as it made it seem as if the horses could talk and weren't really wild at all. I couldn't really get into the story either, I found it was dragged out a lot in places but lacking in detail in others.

This is not to say that it isn't a good book, I liked the storyline and found it interesting and I learnt things about the war that I didn't know before. I would recommend The Winter Horses to children aged 9-12, especially those interested in history or horses.

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.

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