Black Beauty

 

Anna Sewell has a fascinating life story.She was born in England into a Quaker family.  Her mother was a successful author of children's books where she expressed her faith.  Anna helped to edit those books.  When Anna was 14, she fell, severely injuring her ankles.  For the rest of her life she had difficulty walking.  So she became very familiar with the horses that pulled her carriage.

   How interesting that she used this love of horses to write this beautiful book.  She was 51 when she started writing and her health was failing.  Her mother helped her greatly, especially near the end.  Anna only lived six months after the book was published in 1877, dying of hepatitis.  But she did see the success of her book.    It became the 6th best selling book in the English language.  
   
                                       

Fifteen years ago, I found a book club that was just getting started.  The beauty of this book club is that we read a classic every other month.  
On occasion we read children's fiction or youth fiction.
Although Anna Sewell did not write this book for children, the book does include moral lessons on kindness, sympathy and compassionate treatment of horses.  Her goal was to improve the treatment of horses and she accomplished that goal.