Book Review: Black Beauty

Author: Anna Sewell
Anna Swell was born in Yarmouth, England in 1820. It took her nearly seven years to write Black Beauty, her only book.
The author learned to know and love horses when she was a young girl. Driving her father to and from the train station in a pony cart, she was able to observe both people and their horses. After a serious fall in which she was badly hurt, she could no longer ride.
Despite her pain, Anna Sewell was determined to complete her novel. She dictated much of the book to her mother, who write it all down when Anna was too weak to hold a pencil.
Black Beauty was published in 1877. Anna Sewell died a year later. The book was popular from the start. It called people’s attention to their often cruel and thoughtless treatment of animals and did much to improve conditions for all animals.
This story depicts a horse’s life, which can be filled with love and tenderness, or can also be filled with meanness and cruelty. Black beauty, a horse and the protagonist, learns both sides of life in this classic tale by Anna Sewell. It is told from a horse’s point of view, Black Beauty’s own story takes readers into the mind and heart of a sensitive animal searching for love and understanding. From happy times as a young foal romping with his mother to harsh years as a cab horse in the city and then finally t a peaceful old age, this motivating and touching story shows that animals have feelings like humans, and sometimes even know things people do not.
This story is told in an animal’s point of view, which makes it unique and different from others. It could make readers realise the cruelty of human treatment of horses, the similarity of humans and animals and the imperfections of humanity. An inspiring story which makes readers reflect on their own wrongdoings.