Nerve
Harper, 1964
Characters
- Rob Finn
- steeplechase jockey
- Art Matthews
- steeplechase jockey, shoots himself
- John Brewar
- racehorse owner
- Corin Kellar
- trainer
- Lord Tirrold
- steward
- Ballerton
- steward
- Tick-Tock Ingersoll
- steeplechase jockey
- Peter Cloony
- steeplechase jockey
- Grant Oldfield
- steeplechase jockey
- James Axminster
- Paulina
- Rob's ex-girlfriend, dumps him for Sir Morton Henge
- Sir Morton Henge
- Joanna
- Rob's cousin
- Maurice Kemp-Lore
- talk show host, allergic to horses
- Pip Pankhurst
- main jockey for Axminster
Favorite passages
One of my favorite quotes was when Rob talked about racing on Kemp-Lore's TV show:
I spoke truthfully, vehemently, and straight from the heart. 'Give me a horse and a race to ride it in, and I don't care if I wear silks or...or...pajamas. I don't care if there's anyone watching or not. I don't care if I don't earn much money, or if I break my bones, or if I have to starve to keep my weight down. All I care about is racing...racing...and winning, if I can.'
Chosen by members of the reading group in the late 1990s. From Nerve by Dick Francis.
The group read it
We discussed Nerve on February 24, 1997 and again on September 7, 1998.
This page was first written for the reading group's original site in the late 1990s and was lost when AOL Hometown closed. It has been recovered from the Internet Archive.