Review by Trey Nosrac

Anna Sewell was dying. Born in 1820 in Norfolk, England, she suffered a lifelong disability because of a childhood ankle injury and various illnesses. At age 52, the doctor pronounced Anna a “troublesome case.” He told his patient and her mother that Anna would not live another two years.

Another factor exacerbated Anna’s prognosis of more pain and suffering: she would not be able to drive her pony chaise nor easily visit her beloved horses. In these dark hours, she turned to writing to give the remainder of her life purpose. Writing was an integral part of life for several members of her family. Anna would now pick up her pen and, “From time to time, as I was able, I have been writing what I think will turn out to be a little book, its special aim to induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment of horses.”

And she did. Toward the end of the book and her life, Anna could only jot down a few notes on paper and dictate directions to her mother. Once upon a time, Anna had read and helped edit for her mother, Mary Sewell, a fine writer. Now, they reversed roles. Mary edited and transcribed Anna’s story and shepherded the book to publication.

Anna’s little book, the only book she would write, was unique. Her perspective was straight from the horse’s mouth, likely based on Bess, a spunky family horse. While other novels attributed human qualities to animals, Anna pushed the genre. Instead of merely attributing human characteristics to the horse, Anna created a horse who walked and talked like a horse, allowing the reader to slip into the horse›s mind. The unmistakable message for the reader is empathy, which leads to kindness toward horses and all animals.

Today, kindness to horses is ordinary, and cruelty is abnormal. Two centuries ago, cruelty toward animals was a different story. Reading about various cruelties from the point of view of a temperamental chestnut mare named Ginger makes the story come to life. For example, a common practice of using Bering reins to hold up a horse’s head and make it appear more majestic feels different and more robust when it is personal.

“You have two bits instead of one, and mine was sharp. It hurt my tongue and my jaw, and the blood from my tongue colored the froth from my lips as I chaffed and fretted. Besides the soreness in my mouth and the pain in my neck, the bearing reins always made my windpipe feel bad, and if I had stopped there for long, I know it would have spoiled my breathing.”

Five months before Anna died in April of 1878, her mother, Mary, a noted author, showed the manuscript to one of her publishers, Mr. Tillyard, and asked for his opinion on “This little thing of my daughter’s.” The publisher was not overly impressed, but Mary was a well-regarded author. So, perhaps to be polite and sensitive to her terminally ill daughter, he offered a minimum of 20 pounds and arranged a small first printing.

Little did he know, this book, almost a vanity project, reached the publishing pantheon and remains a classic. More than 50 million copies have been sold in 50 languages, making the book one of the most popular in history. Black Beauty, His Grooms & Companions – the Autobiography of a Horse Translated from the Original Equine (yes, that is the full title) has charmed untold millions of readers, but the book also had a purpose. The book’s publication changed attitudes about the treatment of animals and led to the enactment of laws, such as outlawing the Bering rein, that improved the treatment of animals. The story remains a touchstone for anti-animal cruelty crusaders.

A recently released book with another long title, Writing Black Beauty (Anna Sewell, the Creation of a Novel, and the Story of Animal Rights) by Celia Brayfield, is much more than a standard biography. In addition to telling a little-known story of an extraordinary woman who authored a heartwarming tale, Brayfield walks readers through many fields of interest: writing, publishing, business, Quakers, life in England during the1800s, horses, horsemanship, and social conditions.

Many people believe that Black Beauty is a children›s book. Of course, it “could” be a children’s book, but Anna aimed to write an adult book about preventing unjust animal and social conditions. As the holidays approach, perhaps you could try a daily double, read or reread Black Beauty, and find a copy of this new book that tells the story behind the origin of the equine classic.