Black Beauty (Forgotten Books)

Black Beauty (in full: Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, first published November 24, 1877) is Anna Sewell's only novel, composed in the last years of her life between 1871 and 1877 while confined to her house as an invalid.

The story is told in the first person (or "first horse") as an autobiographical memoir told by a highbred horse named Black Beauty-beginning with his carefree days as a foal on an English farm, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. Each short chapter recounts an incident in Black Beauty's life containing a lesson or moral typically related to the kindness, sympathy, and understanding treatment of horses, with Sewell's detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behaviour lending the novel a good deal of verisimilitude. (Quote from wikipedia.org)

About the Author

Anna Sewell (1820 - 1878)
Anna Sewell (March 30, 1820 - April 25, 1878) was a British writer, the author of the classic novel Black Beauty.

Anna was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, in a Quaker family, one of two children. Her brother, Philip (1822-1906) had an early career as a construction engineer in Europe, building railways.

At the age of 14, Anna fell while walking home from school in the rain, injuring both her ankles. Possibly through mistreatment of her injury, she became lame for the rest of her life and was unable to stand or walk for any length of time. For greater mobility, she frequently used horse-drawn carriages, which contributed to her love of horses and concern for the humane treatment of animals.

She never married or had children, but lived