Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

The Horseman Who Came From the Sea by Jeff Turner is gentle, historical fiction at its very best. Henry Cameron was a young man in turmoil when he and his best friend attended a camp aimed at introducing young teenagers to a life at sea. Henry thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps as a ship’s captain. Whilst at the academy, run by his uncle, Henry’s friends were determined to enlist in the army and join the great overseas adventure that was World War I, despite them all being underage. At the last minute, Henry balked at the idea and only his friend Mickey traveled to Europe to fight the good fight. WWI ended and many of America’s finest men came home damaged and missing limbs, including Henry’s friend Mickey. A lieutenant at the Academy had taken Henry under his wing and introduced him to life on his Vermont horse farm. When the lieutenant, along with thousands of others, caught and died from the Spanish Flu epidemic, Henry was shocked to discover he had been left the farm and wealth. Determined to make a success of the farm and honor the lieutenant’s legacy, Henry's first task was to find Mickey, however damaged he might be, and bring him back to the restorative atmosphere of the farm and its horses.

If The Horseman Who Came From the Sea was primarily a romance, it would be known as a cozy romance, so that is the term I will adopt for it. This is cozy historical fiction. Author Jeff Turner has created an ensemble cast of wonderfully warm and loving characters who populate this gorgeous and enervating ranch in the rural hinterland of Vermont. The kindness, civility, and caring nature of the inhabitants of this bucolic treasure just invite the reader in to “sit a spell.” The decency and humanity of Henry and his friends form a wonderful counterpoint to both the archetypal lazy, incompetent, drunk, and mildly corrupt small-town sheriff, who uses his power and position to bully others to get what he wants, as well as Henry's mean and bitter uncle. I particularly appreciated the independent and incredibly gifted young woman in the character of Abigail, a talented horsewoman seeking a home and a place to put down roots, something which she would find on the farm. The romance is sweet and gentle and the prose is simple, inviting, and warm. I, like other readers, no doubt, couldn’t help but notice the corollaries between the fear and panic of the unknown with the Spanish Flu epidemic and our recent brush with a pandemic; the Coronavirus. In reality, not much has changed in human behavior in a hundred years. I can honestly say, given the types of books I’ve read lately, how much pleasure it was to read a simple, moving story with a message of morality, honesty, love, and family. I can highly recommend The Horseman Who Came From the Sea.