Victoria Eveleigh

Katy’s Exmoor, by Victoria Eveleigh

Tortoise Publishing, £4.50
Rating:  «««« but nearly «««««

This is the a traditional pony book. It has a completely unsparkly cover, with a simple illustration of the Exmoors.  I liked the fact the book is clear of any tinge of the Marketing Department. No glitz, no stars, and absolutely no pink. Or unicorns. Or magic ponies. I like the fact it is illustrated: though some illustrations work better than others.

There is far more to this book, though, than what it isn't. It is a well-told and absorbing story. Victoria Eveleigh lives and farms on Exmoor and her deep knowledge of the area shows through.

Katy, her heroine, lives on an Exmoor farm with her parents and brother. Life is not at all easy: money is a constant worry. Katy's birthday falls in the middle of lambing, and so tends to be drowned by all the lambing busyness. She finds a very poor foal on the Common, but her father won't let her bring it and its mother down to the farm. Katy is determined to have the foal for her own one day, but she will only be allowed to have it if it passes its inspection at branding time. Reading that back, I've made the father sound like an ogre, but he is not. He is a farmer who has to survive, and who cannot afford indulgences.

 
This is a good, well observed story. Although in many ways it's a traditional pony book (girl doesn't have pony, struggles, gets pony) I think it's timeless. It's not written to "appeal" to the youth market, but it does, because Victoria Eveleigh has got it right. She understands Exmoor, she understands ponies, and most importantly of all, people.

 My daughter, who did this review with me, said this book was her favourite.  She liked the fact the book was about Exmoors: she enjoyed reading about a specific breed of pony and how it is managed.  The character of Katy though, was what really attracted her.  Perhaps a little worrying for her mother, she most admired Katy’s bidding at the auction while her father was blithely unaware!

Victoria Eveleigh lives and farms on Exmoor.  Her husband illustrates her books, and they publish them themselves.  They keep Exmoor Horn Sheep, North Devon cattle, and of course Exmoors.  

She is the most traditional pony author I’ve found.  Her books are completely devoid of marketing department glitz or fantasy:  what you get is a good, straightforward story, well-observed and with masses of accurate pony content.  Another book is on the way:  it features Lundy ponies (possibly a first?)

Victoria Eveleigh’s website

The Katy Series

Katy’s Exmoor, 2002

Katy’s Exmoor Adventures, 2003

Katy’s Exmoor Friends, 2005

Out soon

Midnight on Lundy, 2008