Book Review: On Swift Horses by Shannon Pufahl

Babylon’s Diego Calva hinted at some “hot scenes” with co-star Jacob Elordi in the upcoming adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s novel, On Swift Horses. I liked that promise so I decided to give the novel a go first.

Truthfully, this was kind of a boring tale. There were too many sprawling details and inner thoughts that didn’t really amount to much. The chapters alternated between Muriel and her brother-in-law Julius. From Muriel’s perspective, although she moves with her husband Lee from the dullness of Indiana, she instead trades that for loneliness in California. She struggles with knowing whether or not she truly loves Lee, or if marrying him was a convenience or kindness. To satisfy herself, she takes up gambling at the local horse track, and it’s her thrilling secret to keep. She has enough success that if she wanted, she could leave her life and live a new one, but remains in place at Lee’s side. For now, the secret is good enough.

From Julius’ perspective, he’s a homosexual in a time where that’s not even remotely cool (Vietnam War time). Once returning from service, he wanders aimlessly gambling any money he has away trying to fill some void. When he lands an actual job he ends up meeting the love of his life, Henry, and the two live a sweeping romance for a time. Then one day Henry is gone. Julius makes it his mission to find his lost love. For that, he’ll need some of Muriel’s money, but the rest of his journey is absolutely no walk in the park. I thought for sure he’d wind up dead in Mexico looking for Henry, but he’s like a cat in that way I suppose. Always another life saving himself by the skin of his teeth.

Muriel’s story gets a little more interesting near the end, but Julius’s journey is the more compelling of the two. Given the rest of the cast, I imagine it will be a decent drama, but I can only hope they don’t drag it out as much as this novel. I’ll still be watching, but from a much more reluctant angle now. Read at your own risk.