Still Life with Horses

"I loved this luminous and searingly honest story of love, loss, life and hope; and I loved how a horse served as metaphor for all of this. The lesson I came away with is that in its best and purest form, love can only lead to more love."  —Elizabeth Berg, author of The Dream Lover and The Story of Arthur Truluv "Still Life with Horses is impossible to put down. With her razor-sharp prose and devastating honesty, Jean Harper sweeps you through her story of heartbreak and redemption while training your focus on the pain and joy you cannot help but recognize as your own. Her deep reverence for the inevitability of loss and the grace of memory will stay with you long after you finish reading."  —Mary Elizabeth Pope, author of Divining Venus "Still Life with Horses will make you fall in love . . . with the strength and silence of horses and learn to believe in the healing power of giving oneself fully to the care and pleasures of another living being. Honest, unflinching, it shimmers with the light of life unfolding."  —Barb Shoup, author of Looking for Jack Kerouac "A horse can be broken, as can a heart, but Jean Harper's luminous Still Life with Horses shows us that heartbreak leads to something infinitely larger—a truer self and a greater love. This is a beautiful book, gorgeous and gutting by turns. Read it and be broken in the best ways, be moved, be changed."  —Randon Billings Noble, author of Be with Me Always "There's a lot of heart in Still Life with Horses, but this isn't a soft book. It's a love story in the fullest sense, glittering with ragged truth and hard-won wisdom."  —Amy Pickworth, author of Bigfoot for Women   Jean Harper was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and now calls the Midwest her home. Her first book, Rose City: A Memoir of Work, won the Mid-List Press First Series Award for Creative Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in the Iowa Review, North American Review, Florida Review, and Yemassee Review. Her writing has been supported by residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Among Harper's awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Indiana Arts Commission.