Dutch Henry, We'll Have the Summer

We'll Have the Summer

Dutch Henry

Camel Press, Mar 11 2011, $15.97

ISBN: 9781603818377

In Arizona, Mary Holt's doctor informs her and her husband Sam that she will be dead by the fall. She handles the news better than her distraught spouse. However, he plans to provide his wife a terrific final curtain call; while she plans to help her spouse move on once she has passed.

However, their final days are interrupted when spoiled troubled teenager Barbara Sherman arrives at their ranch with an injured horse. The Holt couple allows Barbara to move into their home while caring for the horse. As the three troubled people nurture one another and forge a family out of love and respect even knowing that soon Mary will watch over both of them from above and Barbara will return to her Mother and Phillip.

The key to this warm "family" drama is Dutch Henry avoids over sentimentality yet his three key characters (in addition to the horses) contain tenderness. Sam knows that last summer was special for Mary because her last riding student was spoiled but full of spunk. Readers will enjoy this well-written look at the end of life as three people and a horse come together for one last hurrah.

Harriet Klausner