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The Filly by Mark R. Probst

It's the summer of 1878 in a small Texas town. Seventeen year-old Ethan works in the general store and spends his free time reading books borrowed from the schoolteacher Miss Peet.

Money has been scarce since his dad got killed in a gunfight nine years ago. His mother takes in boarders, and older brother Willie does some farming to support the family. Ethan lives a quiet life with no real friends. Aside from books, he loves horses. Someday he hopes to buy a filly with which he can form a close bond as he trains it to maturity.

Part One opens when a stranger walks into the general store to buy supplies: 22 year-old Travis who will eventually persuade Ethan to join him on a 900-mile cattle drive from Texas to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  For now (on page 11) Ethan notices only that Travis is not like most cowboys:  "… dirty, smelly, rough, rude, or rowdy." Ethan and Travis get a chance to exchange a smile. Then the store owner starts a conversation and advises Travis to get hired at a local ranch.   

For the next month, Travis appears in tantalizing glimpses whenever Ethan's life grows too hectic to bear. Ethan's mother is clingy.  Brother Willie has started rustling cattle. But Travis keeps turning up at the general store, offering to let Ethan ride his beautiful mare Cleo.

No wonder Ethan wants to keep Travis for himself when Miss Peet decides to snare an eligible bachelor. Even worse, Miss Peet enlists Ethan in her increasingly Machiavellian plans to win Travis. Meanwhile, Ethan struggles with the thankless task given by his mother: to tag after Willie to the saloon and bordello to keep him out of trouble!

Ethan's problems increase through Part One, culminating in his escape. Travis suggests that Ethan join him on the cattle drive, and Ethan immediately does so.  Yes, it means leaving his needy mother, but he tells himself that he can give her the big paycheck that will result.

Part Two centers on the cattle drive.  This includes a thrilling sequence where the cowboys herd the thirsty cattle night and day across the arid Llano Estacado plateau to the Pecos River on the far side.  The men are a rough crowd – aside from Travis and a vivid minor character Josh who hopes to become an actor. Ethan keeps to himself and works hard, but he can't ignore his growing attraction to Travis.

First, he accidentally catches sight of Travis bathing in the river. Next, he deliberately spies upon the handsome cowboy. To his embarrassment, Travis notices him watching – but doesn't seem to mind.  This makes it possible for Ethan to come to Travis's tent one night when soaked through with a bone-chilling rain.  Travis strips off both their clothes and they lie together, embracing in the warmth of his bedroll. 

This is where The Filly takes an unusual approach to the hero's sexual awakening. In gay historical fiction, there is always a point where the hero must recognize his desire within the unavoidable context of society's disapproval. Then he feels either guilt or defiance.  But The Filly invents a third option: Ethan is an innocent creature of pure instinct who doesn't analyze his urges much at all.

When Ethan first sees Travis bathing in the river, his heart pounds, his hands sweat, he yearns to touch Travis, and he feels close to passing out. Emotionally, he recognizes only that he wants to be Travis's friend forever.

On page 99, while admiring Travis who lies sleeping, Ethan tries to figure out " … why he felt such a connection with this man.  It was closeness, but even stronger than family.  Part of it might be that Ethan felt cared for by him.  Travis was looking out for him, even taking care of him.  This was a friendship like he had never experienced in his life."

Not to go over Ethan's personality with a fine-toothed comb or anything, but it fascinates me how unselfconscious he is about his emerging homosexual desires. But wait!  Wasn't Ethan raised a Christian like Travis and everybody else?  Apparently not! To my surprise, I find out during an important conversation between Travis and Ethan that Ethan has never been to church.  His "unchurched" background explains his refreshing lack of guilt.  (However, it is so unusual for the time period that it should have been introduced early on.)

Overall, Ethan's innocence compliments the de-emphasis on sex in The Filly:  there are no sex scenes.  But the absence of actual descriptions of sex only heightens the romantic tenderness between the lovers that grows as their story unfolds. 

In only one place did I fault the restraint: when Ethan first comes to Travis's tent and they get naked together in the bedroll.  No real details follow. Now I could believe that both might choose not to speak or do anything further than hold each other.  But surely they both experienced an inevitable physical response to each other -- and I found myself distracted from the story long enough to wonder how they would have dealt with it. Surely Ethan's close third-person viewpoint would have provided some thoughts such as, "This is [a] embarrassing, [b] wonderful, [c] going to get me killed!"

But this is a tiny quibble, and soon Ethan and Travis have their conversation that establishes the groundwork for the rest of the book:  romantic love between men exists, and they have to be extremely careful to hide theirs from the rest of society. Part Three brings our heroes full circle back to Texas to cut the ties with their families.  Then they will be free to start new life together, breeding horses in Colorado.

I don't want to reveal too much of Part Three except to say that you get your money's worth in terms of action!  We revisit Ethan's family, and see a different side to the increasingly complicated Miss Peet.  We meet Travis's family. We even get an involving trial sequence complete with lawyers cross-examining witnesses and attempting to influence a thick-headed jury. Surprisingly, older brother Willie proves his worth in a crisis. The idea that Ethan and Travis might be lovers doesn't especially bother him.  This might sound unrealistic for the time period, but it felt convincing and gave a lot of dimension to Willie's character.

Here at ObsidianBookshelf.com, my background as a reviewer is fantasy adventure, not erotica, so I consider it a much-hoped-for bonus when a gay romance turns out to have a strong plot. The Filly definitely does!  After I finished, I could not resist thumbing backwards through all 220 pages to review everything that happened, and see how well it all fit together.  Furthermore, Ethan is an endearing kid, a truly likable hero to accompany us through all the action.

Relevant Links: Historical Fiction The Tin Star by J. L. Langley Great Moments in Dialogue Which One of Two Lovers Did I Like Best and Why? The Filly is available on Amazon through this link:   The Filly

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