Publisher, Tantor Media (April 2009)

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"There isn't a false move in this poignant novel." ---The Washington Post

"[Hearts of Horses] has a homespun quality, and varies in action between a gentle canter and energetic gallop. Strongly recommended." ---Library Journal Starred Review

"The moving story of a...strong-willed woman bucking society's norm to gently train horses without breaking their spirit." ---Temple Grandin, author of the New York Times bestseller Animals in Translation

"Truly, one of the best books you'll ever read." ---Jane Kirkpatrick, author of All Together in One Place

In the winter of 1917, a big-boned young woman shows up at George Bliss's doorstep. She's looking for a job breaking horses, and he hires her on. Many of his regular hands are off fighting the war, and he glimpses, beneath her showy rodeo garb, a shy but strong-willed girl with a serious knowledge of horses.

So begins the irresistible tale of nineteen-year-old Martha Lessen, a female horse whisperer trying to make a go of it in a man's world. It was thought that the only way to break a horse was to buck the wild out of it, and broken ribs and tough falls just went with the job. But over several long, hard winter months, many of the townsfolk in this remote county of eastern Oregon witness Martha's way of talking in low, sweet tones to horses believed beyond repair---and getting miraculous, almost immediate results---and she thereby earns a place of respect in the community.

Along the way, Martha helps a family save their horses when their wagon slides into a ravine. She gentles a horse for a dying man---a last gift to his young son. She clashes with a hired hand who is abusing horses in unspeakable ways. Soon, despite her best efforts to remain aloof and detached, she comes to feel enveloped by a sense of community and family that she's never had before.

With the elegant sweetness of Plainsong and a pitch-perfect sense of western life reminiscent of Annie Dillard, The Hearts of Horses is a remarkable story about how people and animals make connections and touch each other's lives in the most unexpected and profound ways.

About the Author: Molly Gloss is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Her novel The Jump-Off Creek was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction and winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Oregon Book Award. In 1996 Molly received a Whiting Writers Award. She is also the author of The Dazzle of Day, a New York Times Notable Book and a PEN Center West Fiction Prize winner, and Wild Life, which won the James Tiptree Jr. Award.

About the Performer: Actor and voice-over artist Renée Raudman is a multi-award-winning audiobook narrator who has performed on film, television, radio, and stage. Her TV appearances include the recurring role of Jordon on ABC's One Life to Live, Phyllis on NBC's Passions, and guest-starring roles on 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Drew Carey Show, Hercules: The Legendary Journey, and others. Raudman spent several years voicing characters on The Simpsons, is currently Miss Butterbean on Cartoon Network’s The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and narrated the E! Entertainment series Starmaps. You can also hear her on several videogames, including Metal Gear Solid, Everquest II, So Com II, Buraiden, Gungrave OD, and Pursuit Force. Raudman has recorded hundreds of voice-overs for TV and radio commercials, including a two-year stint as the voice of Target.