6 h 46 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 166 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 166 pagesAbout this book
What if your strength makes you useful, but leaves you powerless to choose who holds the reins?
In Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty, a horse tells his own life story, from an English meadow to the busy streets of London. Gentle care marks his early years. But each change of owner puts his health and happiness in new hands, and he cannot explain his pain in human words.
At Birtwick Park, Beauty meets Ginger, whose harsh treatment leaves her fearful, and Merrylegs, a pony trusted by children. Later, cab work brings long hours, traffic, and pressure to keep earning. Through patient groom John Manly and caring driver Jerry Barker, the story asks what kindness means when an animal depends on you.
What you’ll discover
- A horse’s daily life Feel what a saddle, bridle, and harness ask of an animal learning to trust.
- The hurt behind fear Meet Ginger, whose experience reveals how pain can be mistaken for stubbornness.
- Kindness put to work See how John Manly joins patient handling with the knowledge good care requires.
- London through Beauty’s eyes Follow cab work through crowded streets, difficult customers, bad weather, and exhausting hours.
- The cost of appearance Discover how the bearing rein puts fashion before a working horse’s comfort.
Is it for you?
Animal lovers and readers who enjoy a plainly told life story will value its practical compassion and close attention to horses.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
Who’s who
- Black BeautyThe horse who tells the story learns how deeply his health and happiness depend on human choices.
- GingerA horse shaped by harsh handling, she shows why fear and pain can look like stubbornness.
- MerrylegsThis small pony at Birtwick Park has a trusting relationship with the children who ride him.
- John ManlyThe skilled groom at Birtwick Park understands that patient handling and practical knowledge belong together.
- Jerry BarkerA London cab driver, Jerry treats Beauty with care while working hard to support his family.
- The bearing reinThis fashionable restraint forces a horse’s head upward, making appearance more important than comfort.
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- Audiobook
- 6 h 46 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 166 pages: 8,95 USD when you start free, 14,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 166 pages: 15,95 USD when you start free, 21,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell· 1877
A horse’s changing owners expose him to kindness and cruelty.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Black Beauty begins life in an English meadow, beside a mother who teaches him to behave well and do his work willingly. His first home gives him room to grow and people who treat him gently. From the start, he tells his own story, describing what he sees, feels, and learns without knowing everything that governs human life.
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The author
Anna Sewell
1820–1878 · English novelist
Anna Sewell was an English novelist born in Great Yarmouth in 1820. She lived in England and wrote one novel, Black Beauty, which was published in 1877. She wrote it while living in Old Catton, near Norwich. She died there in 1878, a few months after its publication.
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What is Black Beauty about?
Black Beauty follows a horse through a succession of owners and jobs in nineteenth-century England. Told from the horse’s point of view, it shows how patient care, ignorance, fashion, and financial pressure affect animals that cannot speak for themselves.
Is Black Beauty a true story?
Black Beauty is fiction, not the recorded life of a real horse. Anna Sewell draws on her familiarity with horses and the working world around them to make Beauty’s experiences convincing. The novel first appears in 1877.
Why did Anna Sewell write Black Beauty?
Sewell writes to encourage kinder, more informed treatment of horses. Rather than presenting cruelty only as deliberate violence, she shows harm caused by fashionable equipment, overwork, poor training, and ignorance. The horse’s perspective makes these everyday practices difficult to dismiss.
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