If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel

By Merry Whiteford

If Wishes Were Horses is a moving coming-of-age novel that explores the depth of friendship, the hope for redemption, and the heartbreaking choices one must make in a difficult, brutal world. It's 1974, and 16-year-old Star Hennessey is living with three other foster children in a broken-down central New York town. The daughter of an alcoholic prostitute, Star has so far escaped the gritty, painful circumstances of her life through the poems and stories she writes and recites in her head. When she discovers she is pregnant, Star's search for the right course of action brings her face-to-face with the cruel exploitation she fears is her legacy-but culminates in her personal and spiritual triumph. If Wishes Were Horses is a stunning story expertly told by Merry Whiteford, a graceful writer who delves into Star's harsh reality with compassion, hope, and beauty.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031230188X
• ISBN13: 9780312301880
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Beautifully rendered, starkly real

Talented author Merry Whiteford explores the world of foster children in this tale of love, poverty and dreams, set in the mid-1960's and told by a young woman caught between the childhood she never really had and an adulthood she isn't at all prepared for.Christened Veda by an alcoholic mother obsessed with the Joan Crawford movie MILDRED PIERCE, she renames herself "Star" when she, her brother and two other boys are placed in foster care together. Prior to that, she lived for a time in a Catholic-run orphanage, where she witnessed the suicide of another child who was punished for being pregnant. When Star discovers herself in the same predicament, she is determined to obtain an abortion, if only she can find the needed cash.For Star has dreams. She is a poet, and her sights are set on something beyond the poverty and crime that surround her. After all, she notes, "Starting with almost nothing leaves almost everything open."In this beautifully rendered coming-of-age novel, Ms. Whiteford vividly portrays the sense of isolation, the knowledge of separateness not only understood but, to a degree, cultivated by a child from whom relationships are controlled by fiat. In Star Hennessey, with her yearning for a life where the creativity and the life of the mind is respected, she has created a young woman of almost militant optimism who has managed not to lose faith, either in herself or in the power of love, despite obstacles life has placed in her path. Ms. Whiteford understands as well the mixture of childish innocence and precocious maturity young people caught in the wheel of poverty and foster care acquire.IF WISHES WERE HORSES subtly studies the differences between cherishing dreams, as Star does, and nursing delusions as her mother, who insists her children call her "Mildred," clings to in the face of all common sense. Mildred has and does seek rescue, a helpless princess awaiting the arrival of her prince; while Star realizes the only one who can rescue her is herself.What is particularly powerful about this book is its underlying theme that small applications of kindness and generosity-not necessarily of money but of time and experience and attention-can produce quality fruit even in soil that seems blasted and infertile. IF WISHES WERE HORSES is a superbly constructed window into a Dickensian world most people will hopefully never see, and yet one that everyone should have at least a taste of.

Uncommon Love

If Wishes Were Horses is about a teen-age girl, but it is a novel for everyone. The struggles are common human problems, but they are addressed with uncommon insight and care. The story is narrated by Star, a sixteen year girl living in a foster home with her brother and two other teenage boys. Star's mother is a prostitute, an alcoholic and an ex-con. She visits her children in foster care occasionally, and Star visits her mother in flashbacks. These visits reveal the embarrassment and abuse Star has suffered through her mother's neglect. They are more then sufficient to justify Star's total rejection of her mother, but this is not where the story goes. Star is resolute in her efforts to maintain her affection for her mother, and her efforts are rendered credible by Star's narrative. Star shows us how she sees her mother and other people in her life. We are spared pseudo-psychological analyses; instead we read of what Star sees in the people around her--their acts, their gestures, their comments. In these descriptions the affections of people who have been hit hard by life or lost their grip on life peek through. Such affection could be easily overlooked but is not. Star sees the love in her mother, and, through her poetic gifts she allows us to see it too. Star's ability to see those around her with generosity and honesty is at the heart of the story, and at the heart of the reader's admiration for her. The reader, I think, will come to admire Star but will not see her as too good to be true. The plot is built around her slightly outlaw life with the other foster children and her unwanted pregnancy. Her efforts to solve the problems created by the pregnancy drive the plot and keep one wondering how she will resolve the situation. Her attempts at resolution lead to more problems that a less naive person might well have avoided. Star's gift is to see the capacity for love and affection in the midst of weakness and tragedy, and she applies that gift to herself as well. Merry Whiteford has written an excellent novel. Star and her mother are characters who will linger with you. I find myself returning to the closing scenes of the novel with a fondness for mother and daughter and for what they can still mean to each other.

A Heartbreakingly Wonderful Read

If Wishes Were Horses is an absolutely beautiful story of difficult, sometimes tragic, relationships -- and the grace that can come from them. The central character copes with unspeakable loss, yet her toughness and street smarts are not what allows her to triumph in the end, as is so often the case in a coming of age novel; instead, the author deftly and magically creates a young woman whose sensitivity, intelligence, and generosity of spirit win us over. Merry Whiteford does not stick to cliches and worn notions about good parenting and healthy human development--she is willing to explore the gray areas of relationships that make life rich, complex, and real. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons within it.

Beautiful Writing

Merry Whiteford has a marvelous ear for the language. This book is riveting, sensitive, sad, funny, inspiring.What a fabulous writer.

heartbreaking and funny

I am on a high that is a blend of many deep emotions having just finished Merry Whiteford's third book, IF WISHES WERE HORSES. I.W.W.H. is a smasher: difficult to put down for a start and plain impossible for the last two thirds. Terrific foundations are laid and then built on until a new structure, solid, original, and satisfying. The more specific Mildred and Star and Pig become the more their essences twang and resonate with my own. They are wonderful creations. Mildred is supreme, one of the finest pieces of sculpture created by pen that I have come across. I was charmed by the sure yet so delicate artistry in the crescendoing creation of Mildred until I no longer wished her to walk into the room; she arrived here, vividly present. Star's coming to see Mildred as exactly who she is, - and who Mildred is, is plenty, and indeed enough - saves Star and allows her to grow up. By transcending Mildred's self deceptions Star becomes herself and being now separate from Mildred it is easy to love her.Thank you, Ms Whiteford. NEXT PLEASE!