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Notes From The Superhorse Stable

The spotlight falls again on Saron author Nigel Jarrett and his fictional memoir, Notes from the Superhorse Stable, published in 2022. The book is narrated by a 'resting' actor, Francis Taylor, whose modest claim to fame is that he played the lead horse Nugget in an early performance of Peter Shaffer's play, Equus. The play is being performed all this week at the Theatre Royal Bath

Francis's intimate connection with the horse, experienced from 'inside', as it were, is a recurring theme of his story about finding a long-lost relative living on the south coast near Worthing. Animals in one form or another, and in different circumstances, pop up in the narrative. It's as though they are 'auditioning' for parts, as Francis deals with both his relative's mortality and the instability of his partner, Julie.

Jarrett, who lives in Abergavenny, attempts in the book to deal with the multiple facets of reality – hence the 'notebook' format – as events roll forward to their tragic endings. In Shaffer's disturbing play, about a teenager who blinds the horses in his charge with a metal spike, the damage has already been done as the play begins the attempt to seek understanding.

The book's striking cover was designed by Jarrett's nephew, Matt Jarrett'

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