Our Horses in Egypt Hardcover - 2007

Media reviews

"A most unusual, fascinating novel…gripping transcontinental adventure."
—Herald

"A remarkable work of literature: an intensely noticing novel, told in a style of dashing idiosyncrasy that adapts equally well to comic verve and unbearable sadness. If literary prizes were awarded (as they still, occasionally, are), on pure excellence of writing, Our Horses in Egypt would be sure to make Rosalind Belben a late-blooming household name."
—Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

"Belben does not shy away from difficult themes…In this powerful novel, Belben celebrates the gift of not forgetting with the confidence and style of a writer who deserves to be a great deal better known."
—Melissa Katsoulis, Tablet

"Brilliantly brutal passages by Belben."
—Ed Vanstone, Big Issue Cymru

"Here is a First World War story and a love story with a difference... Rosalind Belben is as unsentimental as she is skilful. Griselda's quest is perfectly paced, and the author's default tone is restraint mixed with irony. As a result she has conjured up a novel of unexpected potency."
—Edwin Reardon, The First Post

"Magnificent… funny and sad, by turns elegant and terse, romantic and brisk – evocative and entirely beguiling, a wonderful novel."
—Matthew Dennison, Daily Telegraph

Splicing tales of Griselda's mission with Philomena's wartime trials, Belben's narrative ambles along at a pace suited to the war-battered world in which it unfolds. From this sentimental premise, she carves an epic tale devoid of syrup that cuts to the heart of our relationship with other cultures and other creatures."
—Hepzibah Anderson, Bloomberg.com

"The novel offers a heart-rending account of the horses’ experience in the Great War… Our Horses in Egypt, a radical experiment in narrative, has a sympathetic splendour, leading the blinkered humanist imagination into the realm of creaturely experience."
—Stevie Davies, Independent