Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio

Marguerite Henry

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(4 stars; 4 reviews)

Each summer, in the ancient hill town of Siena, Italy, there erupts one of the most extraordinary, exciting, and dangerous horse races in the world— the Palio. So furious is the rivalry that it is often said the Palio is more battle than race, and that "Fate is the Queen of the Palio."

This magnificent book is a true story of the Palio —a thrilling, heart-stirring tale of a boy and a beautiful half-Arabian mare who won undying fame. Marguerite Henry tells—as only she can—how the life of Giorgio Terni, a boy of the Maremma marshes, became linked in strange and dramatic fashion with that of the cart horse Gaudenzia, whose Arabian blood brought her into the contest of the Palio. When Gaudenzia is lamed in one of the wild races, it is Giorgio whose devoted care brings her back to health. And it is Giorgio who has the joy of riding her to victory in one Palio, and then the heartbreak of fighting her in the next. How he wins the title “Vittorino” and how Gaudenzia becomes the "Pride of the Palio” make a story to enthrall the heart of every reader. (Summary from the original jacket) (6 hr 20 min)