Horse Heaven
A young woman and a wealthy rancher work to prevent the slaughter of 3,000 head of wild horses.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Horse Heaven
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A year on the American horse-racing circuit, narrated by a deep cast that includes a divorcing trainer, a betting waiter, an animal communicator, and a surprising number of horses with opinions of their own.
Horse Heaven was written by Jane Smiley and published in 2000. Smiley won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres and is one of the leading literary novelists of her generation.
Yes. Horse Heaven follows multiple human and equine characters across two seasons of Thoroughbred racing. Jane Smiley is a longtime horse owner and rider, and the novel draws on her personal expertise alongside extensive research.
Horse Heaven is 216 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Horse Heaven takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Horse Heaven is a standalone novel by Zane Grey, not part of a series.
Horse Heaven is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.