Coal Black Horse, Robert Olmstead’s fourth novel, is a coming-of-age tale set during the American Civil War. The main character, Robey Childs, is sent to find his father, a soldier on the confederate side. Through landscapes of horror and narrow escapes, Robey is armed with only his mother’s instructions and a coat that’s blue on one side and gray on the other.

Fortunately, he comes into possession of a horse that is smarter than he is. But the big Hanovarian, nameless throughout the book, can’t save Robey from making hard choices in a war-torn land.

When Olmstead published his short story collection River Dogs in 1987, his work was compared to Richard Ford, Raymond Carver and Thomas McGuane, and Raymond Carver was one of Olmstead’s thesis directors at Syracuse University. Olmstead has received high praise for all five of his books: The Washington Post wrote, “Many writers, finding themselves suddenly blessed with Olmstead’s gifts, would think they had died and gone to heaven”; the Chicago Tribune deemed his writing “brilliant and compelling”; the New York Times raved that he was “the skill for lending every present moment an extraordinary sensuous glow”; and Tobias Wolff described him as “an original in the American grain . . .[who] has fashioned a fresh and vital language.”

Robert Olmstead has won honors, awards, and research grants on a consistent basis since 1989. He resides in Delaware, Ohio, where he teaches English at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Coal Black Horse Website