"National Velvet by Enid Bagnold—This is another one that people assume must be a children's book. It's about a shy fourteen-year-old girl called Velvet whose great passion is horses; she knows her stubborn piebald is something special, and she's going to give him his chance to shine. I first read it when I was seven, and loved it—even then, I could feel that the writing was something special, subtle and intricate and perfectly pitched. What I missed, though, is that it isn't a children's book at all. It's a book about how deeply mysterious we human beings are, not only to the people we're closest to, but even to ourselves; about how much is waiting inside us for its moment, and about the breathtaking wonder of seizing that moment when it comes; about the glory of ordinary things, as well as extraordinary ones."
Talk about good writing! Authors talking about good writing... this passage made my spine tingle!
