Horseman by Christina Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ben, the grandchild of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Brom Bones, and the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, is playing in the woods one day when the body of a child is discovered, and life in Sleepy Hollow changes abruptly. Suddenly the adults are in a frenzy, children are in danger, and even Brom tells Ben to stay out of his beloved woods. But what if Ben is the only person that can discover what is happening and end it for good? Is the Horseman of legend back to terrorise Sleepy Hollow, or is there something more sinister lurking in the woods?
I have been familiar with the story of Sleepy Hollow my whole life, but I must admit that I had never read Washington Irving’s original tale. Before sitting down to read Horseman, I decided to finally read the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which I enjoyed. Importantly, it provided me some more context for reading this book. I’m not sure it was absolutely necessary to understand this, so if you’ve not read Irving’s version, but you are interested in Horseman, which acts as a sequel, you are probably still going to be able to follow along. Christina Henry does a good job of filling you in when needed, even detailing the incident that took place between Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman in the original.
It was fun to return to this familiar place, and meet the characters again, later in their life. Brom and Katrina were no longer young lovers courting each other, but in fact a long married couple with a grandchild. That grandchild is Ben, a new character for the story, and our main character. We follow Ben (full name Bente, though he doesn’t like being called that), who was born a girl but feels more like a boy. He wants to be treated as a boy, and be able to live his life as a boy, and some people in his life support that, which is nice to see. Even those who are not initially supportive come around. He does come up against people who just will not understand him, and are quite antagonistic, insisting on misgendering him and such, which may be triggering for some readers. I feel as if Ben was a good representation of a transgender boy, but I cannot really comment any further on this, not having any of my own experience in this realm.
Ben is a great character to follow in general. He is curious, brave, and kind, yet also takes advantage of the fact that he is a Van Brunt, perhaps without realising it, as he is still a child and it’s all he’s known. The fact that his grandfather is the great Brom Bones leads him to believe that he is more immune to danger than he truly is, which gets him into various scrapes, and he is not especially well liked by many people in town due to how strange he is to them. This all makes him the perfect person to solve the recent spate of child deaths occurring in the woods of Sleepy Hollow.
Of course, I will not say more about the plot, as it will be very spoilery, and I would hate to do that to you. But, there are many twists and turns to enjoy before you, alongside Ben, discover what is happening and come to the conclusion of the tale.
The setting should also be mentioned, keeping in mind that it is a very famous and familiar one for many. Sleepy Hollow remains as eerie and almost lost to time as it was in the original. It seems to resist keeping up with the world around it in regards to progression and development, and it attracts very few visitors, aside from occasional passers through. This lends itself perfectly to a slightly isolated, superstitious air. People in Sleepy Hollow still believe the old stories that they brought from Europe, and those that they developed in America as well. Their traditional ways can be charming, but can also be stifling. Perfect for a story such as Horseman.
This is my third Christina Henry novel so far, and I love that her distinct style can be recognised across all the books I’ve read, though it becomes more refined, of course. One particular thing I love is that her characters interrupt their own thoughts with yet more thoughts, always signified with text between brackets. This feels very real to me, as I feel as if my thoughts behave that way as well.
Now, there is one thing I found a little less enjoyable here, that may well be influenced by Christina Henry’s writing style/method. At a book signing I attended, she told us that she doesn’t do a lot of plotting before writing her stories. This is great for me as her reader in some ways, as it really feels organic the way the story unfolds, or more specifically here, the inner world of the characters you follow. However, sometimes this ends in some repetition within the narration, which can feel a tad frustrating.
Overall however, Horseman by Christina Henry is another solid story adaptation from her. I enjoyed returning to Sleepy Hollow with Ben, and solving the mystery of what was happening there. Witnessing Ben become more comfortable with himself and find acceptance from others was also enjoyable, a inner journey to mirror the outer. If you enjoy gentle horror (gentle to me at least, though there is some gore), dark fantasy, and adaptations of classic stories.
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Rebecka O'Malley 