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Lara Prior-Palmer

Rough Magic: Riding the world’s wildest horse race. A Richard and Judy Book Club pick Hardcover – 6 Jun. 2019

by Lara Prior-Palmer (Author)

269 ratings

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WINNER STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2020
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL PRIZE 2019

'Such an addictive and likeable book...One of this year's best memoirs' The Telegraph

'It’s the resistance to the obvious narratives that makes Rough Magic so appealing: the book undermines lazy women-in-the-wilderness tropes at every turn.' Sarah Moss, Guardian

'A heroic tale beautifully told' TLS

'Rough Magic is transporting, beguiling and terrifically entertaining' Daily Mail

The Mongol Derby is the world’s toughest horse race. A feat of endurance across the vast Mongolian plains once traversed by the people of Genghis Khan, competitors ride 25 horses across a distance of 1000km. Many riders don’t make it to the finish line.

In 2013 Lara Prior-Palmer – nineteen, underprepared but seeking the great unknown – decided to enter the race. Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose, and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses. In one of the Derby’s most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race.

A tale of adventure, fortitude and poetry, Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of one young woman’s encounter with oblivion, and herself.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Ebury Press
Publication date

6 Jun. 2019
Dimensions

14.4 x 3.1 x 22.2 cm
ISBN-10

1785038850
ISBN-13

978-1785038853
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Product details

Publisher : Ebury Press (6 Jun. 2019)
Language : English
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 1785038850
ISBN-13 : 978-1785038853
Dimensions : 14.4 x 3.1 x 22.2 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 243,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 80 in Horse Jockey Biographies
- 202 in Horse Race Betting
- 221 in Horse Racing (Books)

Customer reviews:
269 ratings

Product description

Review

Think the next Educated or Wild. Palmer’s memoir of beating the odds to become a horse champion is an inspiring saga of perseverance ― and a classic underdog tale. ― Entertainment Weekly

Prior-Palmer's style is a fascinating mix of pep and poignancy. A really terrific story by a spirited new voice. ― Sara Baume

[Prior-Palmer's] gorgeous, sensual depiction of this race is a literary marvel; it feels like you are riding alongside her across the desolate steppes; her verbal acuity makes vivid the most elusive of landscapes; her triumph becomes ours. ― NYLON

In this sensual, spiritual memoir, Prior-Palmer recounts her grueling journey through immense physical hardship, and her surprising transformation from underdog to champion ― Esquire

Absolutely riveting. ― Buzzfeed

About the Author

Lara Prior-Palmer made headlines in 2013 when she became the first woman, and the youngest-ever competitor, to win the Mongol Derby. Lara is a graduate of Stanford University. She specialises in fleeing. Rough Magic is her first book.

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Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		24%
3 star		11%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

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Saba

Not the book for me.... nonsensical writing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm sorry to say but this was a terrible book to read. There was no real flow and the author was literally just blurting nonsensical thoughts for paragraphs on end.

The story sounded great and full of adventure and yet there seemed to be none to be found in this book.

Not to mention that the obvious flaw in the story is that the author did not prepare for the race. Arrived lacking proper equipment. Used other riders to help her navigate most the first half of the journey. Never properly repaid any Mongolian family who kindly took her in for the night and provided food and shelter.

Reading this book was frustrating from beginning to end. The only shining light being that I bought it when it was on offer for 99p.

I would not recommend it to anyone. And no, it is not the next "Educated" as was described by another reviewer. If you want a story of an underdog who WORKS HARD to overcome her life's obstacles, I would highly recommend that you read Educated and not this awful book.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ann Talbot

lovely coming of age book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 July 2019

Verified Purchase

I wrote this review for the Irish Farming Independent, published July 2, 2019. Ann Fitzgerald
Now that the Leaving Cert students have finished their travails and ponder their next step, there is a new book that might be worth a read.
Rough Magic is a memoir by Lara Prior-Palmer, about becoming the youngest person and first woman to win the 1,000Km Mongol Derby.
While ostensibly an account of the so-called world’s wildest horse-race, it reminds me of Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger’s classic coming-of-age novel.
At the time of the race (2013), 19-year-old Lara has lived a pretty gentle, stable, life in an upper middle-class English family.
“Appleshaw floats in a shadow valley where the tameness of Hampshire stops and the wilds of Wiltshire begin. Weekends there sent me out to make mud-balls with my brothers, walk miles without purpose, and swim away from time. The city basin, tasked with curating our futures, drew up back every Sunday night. My brothers and I slotted into the week as dirty plates do into a dishwasher.”
Passing time before heading to university, she is working as an au pair to a family in an Austrian valley who only leave the house to get in one of their six Ferraris. So sedentary a lifestyle in such physical surroundings made her itch.
Soon sacked and back in London, Lara is searching around for something to do when she, “casts her rod into the depths of Google” for the umpteenth time, lands on the Mongol Derby, and, on a whim, hits Apply.
The race started seven weeks later.
Lara is a niece of multi-champion eventer Lucinda Greene and has a lifelong love of horses but has little competitive experience and is totally unprepared for what lies ahead.
Some of the other riders have been in training for months, one even has a dedicated trainer. She has neither sponsor, the training, even the entry fee.
For most of the race, Lara is ambivalent about the idea of winning, because that would be too conformist. But Devan (the perfectly prepared pink-clad blonde Texan who fully expects to win) has stirred something up in her, “She does need toppling. Momentarily I imagine her with antlers.”
Many people undertake such challenges for a deep-seated purpose, but Lara is an accidental heroine.
Surviving falls, sickness, slow ponies and lame ones, with youthful cheer, some skill and a lot of luck, allied to a touch of malice (which adds to the book’s authenticity), she goes from hapless entrant to serious competitor, to winner.
This book will blow the cobwebs from your mind.
Crackling with energy, it is an extraordinary mix of breathless scattiness, adolescent philosophising, raw adventure and self-discovery.
It exudes a sense of, if I can do something so unattainable, nothing is impossible.
The prose is stunning; open and honest, vividly descriptive, witty and self-deprecating. She has a unique turn of phrase, peppered with well-chosen quotes from her unlikely backpack book, The Tempest and from Mongolian history and philosophy.
The conclusion is open-ended, which is fitting.
When asked afterwards if the win changed her, Lara’s response is a series of ‘maybes’.
“Maybe it endorsed a haphazard manner of doing things people had frowned upon. Maybe in years to come, I will see it as a seal on the years that went before it.”
She adds, “endings fade, but the force behind a story lives on … being human means inhabiting an unfinished form, forever moving on to the next thing.”

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sally Coles

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 July 2020

Verified Purchase

Lara entered the Mongol Derby on a whim, and was obviously the most unprepared competitor both mentally and physically but she went on to be the first woman and the youngest person to win the race. It is supposed to be the most grueling race ever and having to cross rough terrain on almost wild ponies changing mount at every station means that it was an incredible feat.

I enjoyed the book as it was an amazing story but I did struggle slightly with the writing style and also felt that she told too many stories about herself rather than the ponies and the actual riding

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Annie

To quote from the Book "The Valley floor is as soothing as a Bath after a long day ."

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 September 2020

Verified Purchase

What an extraordinary journey for a young woman to take on board at just 19, or was it because she deep down wished to do something wild in her last year as a teenager , that wouldn't result in any damage or harm !Laura's Race , the Animals she rode all with their own unique personalities, which took her across the vast and differing landscapes that make up the Mongolian Steppe! Once I started the book I couldn't put it down & ended up reading it throughout the night . A great read for anyone who loves Ponies and Horses , adventure , geography and escaping the craziness of the world as it is during this awful Pandemic , even more so when your having to Shield until next year .

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Phyllis May

A beautiful, original memoir

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a fast read, great if you're dabbling in memoir, or you love horses or you want to be inspired. It lags a tiny bit in the middle, but then, the race does, so I suppose the writing mimics that. Lara manages to feel both young and old in her narration and despite knowing she wins the question of 'how on earth does she do it?' keeps the pages turning even as you absorb countless plain and horse and strange local. The human spirit of her endeavor is charming, and Lara's unexpectedness makes her instantly likable as does her submission to wanting to win, to besting those that threaten that. She's a brilliant writer. The blurb says that this is a 'race into oblivion' and I think that just about sums it up perfectly, its the kind of story that is, in and of itself a marvel and Lara illustrates it perfectly.

3 people found this helpful

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