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Staff Pick
Rough Magic is the extraordinary story of a 19-year-old woman who, with no formal training, ended up winning the Mongol Derby, the longest and one of the most difficult horse races in the world. Lara Prior-Palmer's memoir of her experience in the race is funny and raw; her voice is uniquely captivating, and the pace (as might be expected) is page-turning. An inspiring and enthralling tale. Recommended By Jill O., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
One of
Entertainment Weekly's Most Anticipated Books of 2019
"Lara's searingly honest account of her astonishing rise from hopeless underdog to Mongol Derby Champion leaves grit in your teeth and dust in your hair. I laughed, I cried and I felt every bruise. I was riveted til the last word and left with lasting daydreams of Mongolian horizons." — Felicity Aston, author of Alone in Antarctica, The First Woman To See Solo Across the Southern Ice
At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior-Palmer discovered a website devoted to "the world's longest, toughest horse race" — an annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twenty-five wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland. On a whim, she decided to enter the race. As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.
Riders often spend years preparing to compete in the Mongol Derby, a course that recreates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan, and many fail to finish. Prior-Palmer had no formal training. She was driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses. She raced for ten 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 decided she had nothing to lose. Each dawn she rode out again on a fresh horse, scrambling up mountains, swimming through rivers, crossing woodlands and wetlands, arid dunes and open steppe, as American television crews chased her in their Jeeps.
Told with terrific suspense and style, in a voice full of poetry and soul, Rough Magic captures the extraordinary story of one young woman who forged ahead, against all odds, to become the first female winner of this breathtaking race.
Review
"[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." Kristin Iversen, NYLON, 1 of 50 Books You'll Want to Read This Year
Review
"An instant classic memoir...With whip-smart sass and achingly beautiful observations on life, Prior-Palmer easily breaks us in as she canters across the wild verdant steppes of Mongolia, where the vastness is matched only by the author's unbridled spirit of adventure. We're reminded that despite battling bone-deep fatigue in sweat-soaked clothes, we too have what it takes to stay upright — no matter how many times we may get knocked down." Lauren Matison, Shape
Review
"In this sensual, spiritual memoir, Prior-Palmer recounts her grueling journey through immense physical hardship, and her surprising transformation from underdog to champion." Adrienne Westenfeld, Esquire, One of the Best Books to Read This Spring
Review
"Taking off on a horse into the Mongolian Steppe sounds like the bracing inverse to an overpopulated, busy urban life, but having the skills and grit to pull it off is another thing entirely. Lara Prior-Palmer attempted the Mongol Derby not really knowing what she was getting into; she ended it knowing much more about herself, and a race champion besides." Estelle Tang, Elle, 1 of the 25 Best Books to Read This Spring
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, 1 of the 15 Most Anticipated Books of the Year
Review
"An inspirational tale of struggle — dehydration, injury and isolation — ultimately overcome through grit and sheer willpower." Thomas Gebremedhin, Wall Street Journal Magazine, 1 of the 12 Best Books of Spring
Synopsis
This national bestselling "memoir of beating the odds to become a horse champion is an inspiring saga of perseverance--and a classic underdog tale" for readers of Educated, Wild, and H Is for Hawk (Entertainment Weekly, Most Anticipated Books of the Year)
At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior-Palmer discovered a website devoted to "the world's longest, toughest horse race"--an annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twenty-five wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland. On a whim, she decided to enter the race. As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.
Riders often spend years preparing to compete in the Mongol Derby, a course that re-creates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan. Many fail to finish. Prior-Palmer had no formal training. She was driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses. She raced for ten 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 decided she had nothing to lose. Each dawn she rode out again on a fresh horse, scrambling up mountains, swimming through rivers, crossing woodlands and wetlands, arid dunes and open steppe, as American television crews chased her in their jeeps.
Told with terrific suspense and style, in a voice full of poetry and soul, Rough Magic captures the extraordinary story of one young woman who forged ahead, against all odds, to become the first female winner of this breathtaking race.
Named a Best Book of the Season by O, The Oprah Magazine, Wall Street Journal Magazine, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, Elle, Southern Living, Family Circle, and Buzzfeed
"If you like your memoirs to revolve around singular experiences, Lara Prior-Palmer's Rough Magic delivers." --John Williams, The New York Times
Synopsis
"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, 1 of the 15 Most Anticipated Books of the Year Named a Best Book of the Season by O, The Oprah Magazine, Wall Street Journal Magazine, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, Elle, Southern Living, Family Circle, and Buzzfeed
"If you like your memoirs to revolve around singular experiences, Lara Prior-Palmer's Rough Magic delivers." --John Williams, The New York Times
At the age of nineteen, Lara Prior-Palmer discovered a website devoted to "the world's longest, toughest horse race"--an annual competition of endurance and skill that involves dozens of riders racing a series of twenty-five wild ponies across 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian grassland. On a whim, she decided to enter the race. As she boarded a plane to East Asia, she was utterly unprepared for what awaited her.
Riders often spend years preparing to compete in the Mongol Derby, a course that re-creates the horse messenger system developed by Genghis Khan, and many fail to finish. Prior-Palmer had no formal training. She was driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses. She raced for ten 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 decided she had nothing to lose. Each dawn she rode out again on a fresh horse, scrambling up mountains, swimming through rivers, crossing woodlands and wetlands, arid dunes and open steppe, as American television crews chased her in their jeeps.
Told with terrific suspense and style, in a voice full of poetry and soul, Rough Magic captures the extraordinary story of one young woman who forged ahead, against all odds, to become the first female winner of this breathtaking race.
About the Author
Lara Prior-Palmer was born in London in 1994. She studied conceptual history and Persian at Stanford University. In 2013, she competed in the 1,000-kilometer Mongol Derby in Mongolia, sometimes described as the world's toughest and longest horse race, and became the first woman to win the race, and the youngest person ever to finish. Rough Magic is her first book.