Melanie Sue Bowles, Author
Ever since she and her husband retired from firefighting and opened a sanctuary for horses, Melanie Sue Bowles has chronicled the stories of animals that have come into her life. Liberty Biscuit is her first novel.
“The title character was inspired by two real-life donkeys who came to the sanctuary from different states,” she says. “Both suffered abuse. One arrived on July 4th; we named him Liberty. The other was lured into our trailer with biscuits, and—you guessed it—we named him Biscuit. Those two bonded deeply and were together for 20 years. And, oh, the shenanigans they got into! Sadly, they are both gone now, but we cherish their memories and they’re immortalized in Liberty Biscuit.”
The tale, for young adult readers or animal lovers of any age, introduces a young girl who finds a bedraggled donkey with one eye and a floppy ear. When her grandfather agrees to help foster the donkey, therein begins the unraveling of some family secrets and a fight to keep the animal from being returned to an abusive home.
“I hope whoever reads this story feels the importance of inclusion,” says Bowles, “that we all belong. My protagonist Kip is interesting, smart and sort of quirky, just learning to accept herself for who she is and discovering she likes who she is. I think that’s important, especially for young people navigating their teen years.”
Liberty Biscuit, October, 2022, fiction, paperback, $12.95, by Melanie Sue Bowles, and published by Trafalgar Square Books, Pomfret, VT. To learn more about Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary and Bowles’ other works, visit HorsesofProudSpirit.org. Order the book at HorseandRiderBooks.com or at regional bookstores.
