Book Launch Cocktail Party

Join Sally Taylor, an island native, American singer-songwriter and founder of Consenses, in conversation with Christy Cashman, a Boston-based author and YouthINK founder for light bites and cocktails while overlooking the iconic Edgartown Lighthouse. These two enigmatic women are gifted and creative forces who will give us a look behind the curtain on their own creative process while discussing Christy’s debut novel The Truth About Horses – available August 15th.

Event Details:

• Friday, June 23rd from 4p – 6p
• At Harbor View Hotel in the Edgartown Room
• No Entry Fee, Complimentary Cocktails & Light Bites
• RSVP to marketing@harborviewhotel.com
• Continue the Conversation after the event at the bar at Bettini. For reservations for dinner at Bettini, visit Open Table or email bettini@harborviewhotel.com .

About The Book:
In The Truth About Horses by Christy Cashman, fourteen-year-old Reese’s dream of winning the Black Elk race is shattered when her beloved horse, Trusted Treasure, falls at the last jump. While still reeling from that loss, her family suffers a second tragedy – one that results in the end of their family business, the same of Trusted Treasure, and irreparable damage to Reese’s relationship with her father.

Heartbroken and still longing to find Trusted Treasure, Reese meets Wes, a Lakota Indian, whose way of training horses is unlike anything she’s ever seen. If anyone can win the Black Elk, it’s Wes, but he’s struggling with his troubled past, and having a teenage girl hanging around his barn isn’t exactly what he’d planned. Through heartaches and triumphs, Reese must prove her worth if she wants to heal her family, help Wes, and show them all that some dreams are worth fighting for.

Read a Synopsis of The Truth About Horses.

What People Are Saying:

“With all of the unpredictable thrill of a horseback ride, The Truth About Horses took me deep into the mind of a teenage girl searching for her post-traumatic truth. It is a beautiful, moving story that I’m glad to know and certain to remember.” (Harry Connick Jr., Emmy Award–winning Actor and Grammy Award–winning Musician)

“What an irresistibly readable novel Christy Cashman has written! Her young heroine, Reese, is an astonishing creation, warmly sympathetic, impulsive, unpredictable, brash, loyal and loving, endearing, exasperating, most of all memorable—a triumphant portrait of tumultuous adolescence in our time. The Truth About Horses plunges us into a beautifully evoked rural world in which horses are both magnificent beasts requiring human love and devotion, and iconic creatures out of mythology.” (Joyce Carol Oates, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist)

“In her first novel, The Truth About Horses, Christy Cashman proves herself to be a worthy successor to Harper Lee. Cashman’s protagonist, Reese, instantly captures the reader in the same way that Scout does in To Kill a Mockingbird—and takes the reader with her into her world for a magical examination of the human heart.” (Arthur T. Vanderbilt II, author of Fortune’s Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt)

“The Truth About Horses had me hooked on page one. I set aside everything else and just kept reading, sleep be damned. It is a timeless story about growing up in a world that is less than perfect and trying to figure out who you are through all of those challenges—something each of us faces at some point. Reese’s strength, wit, wisdom, and vulnerability offer up a multi-faceted character and a person I would like to know. The novel is a tour de force.” (Judith Laster, Festival Director of, The Woods Hole Film Festival)

“The truth about The Truth About Horses is that it is impossible to put down. With simple ingredients of hay and humor, family and fury, Christy Cashman has spun an unstoppable feast.  She shows us how hooves and hearts beat the same truth to light and reminds us that laughter and tears need not be served as separate courses. (Sally Taylor, singer, songwriter, and founder of Consenses)

“Christy Cashman has written a beautiful, thrilling tale about a teenaged girl’s journey from fear to courage, from anger to forgiveness, from broken-heartedness to openness. The Truth About Horses is so much about the mysterious forces, within us and around us, that are always there to guide us, and the way in which people enter our lives exactly when we need them—if only we’ll let them.” (Jane Seymour, actress, author, and cofounder of the Open Hearts Foundation)

“There are few people who won’t be swept away by this beautiful, gritty, and gripping story about the renewal of life and relationships. Reese takes the reader on a journey of raw emotions, from pain to joy, in this wonder of steadfast perseverance. Being a Midwesterner myself, I could almost smell the sacred and magical farmland in her pages. The Truth About Horses is a must-read.” (Shannon Pastuszak, media executive, publisher, and founder of The Newbury Cup)

“The Truth About Horses is a beautifully written and engaging story. Christy Cashman easily sets the tone with her terrific descriptions of the land, the horses, and her teenaged protagonist, Reese. This is a tale of loss, grieving, believing in dreams, and being true to yourself. Reese’s voice is spot- on, and you will find yourself alternately worried, frustrated, and awed by her. I quickly became invested in the story and anxious to read on!” (Judith Belushi Pisano, producer, uke enthusiast, author of Samurai Widow, and coauthor of Belushi: A Biographer)

“This is so much more than a book about horses, and anyone who thinks so otherwise is missing out. It is about loss, mental health, families, a love for animals, relationships, finding your place in this world, following your dreams, trials and triumphs, forgiveness . . . and so much more!” (Christine Ward, Executive. Director of Raising A Reader MA)

“The Truth About Horses is in many ways also the truth about things we hold dear in life. And if that includes captivating writing, Christy Cashman supremely succeeds.” (Patrick Kabanda, author of The Creative Wealth of Nations)

“What a ride! The Truth About Horses is the terrific story of a young girl dealing with the trauma of grief while finding herself and a place for her own dreams in the unpredictable world of horses. A really enjoyable roller- coaster journey that never lags—there is always a surprise waiting for the Reese and the reader. (Alan Devine, actor in Netflix’s Valhalla and BBC’’s The Tudors)

“Christy Cashman has written a powerful story about loss and grief. Wonderfully evocative and with the author’s passion for horses shining through every page, this is a rich and deeply felt novel. Eschewing easy answers, The Truth About Horses is strong on how even the small choices we make, sometimes rashly, can so easily hurt those most important to us, and how struggling on through each day can bring enough hope to light the path toward redemption and new beginnings.” (Kieran Crowley, author of The Misfits and Mighty Dynamo)

“Don’t waste another moment reading these simple lines of praise . Go straight to the horse’s mouth. By the way, it’s a winner.” (Carly Simon, musician, singer, songwriter, memoirist and author)