The Foal in the Wire is a verse novel by Robbie Coburn and impresses with its unbridled look at the raw underbelly of life through the eyes of two teenagers, Sam and Julia, who live on neighbouring farms. It’s from his father – a horse trainer – that Sam learns about horses and how to care for them. Julia lives next door with her dad, in a dysfunctional family. In addition to their domestic life, both also have to deal with the stresses of others, such as bullies at school.
Coburn masterfully leads the reader through the book, and we begin to understand Sam’s struggles with trauma and depression after losing his older brother, so too with Julia and her experience of living with her father. It is only when Julia finds a wounded foal tangled in barbed wire in one of the paddocks and calls to Sam for help that their lives change courses. The teenagers rescue and take care of the foal, and it is through this act of kindness that in turn sees their lives change for the better.
Coburn includes poems that cut straight through flesh to the bone. They reveal the heartache and hurt of the two teenagers as they navigate bullying, unhappy parents, addiction, suicide and abuse.
Here is Sam in ‘Blame’
Almost every night I hear them fighting,
mum blames dad for my brother
riding bulls in the first place.
dad says he told him not to.
Mum thinks my brother was trying
to be tougher than my dad
and prove something
and the way dad treated us as kids
is the reason we do the things we do.
I know it doesn’t matter
Because he isn’t coming back
and no amount of screaming will change that.
The use of the foal as the catalyst for change for both Sam and Julia is successful due to Coburn’s lived experience of rural Australia, as well as his familiarity with horses. It is the writing from this perspective that allows the reader to move through difficult subject matter with confidence. We are comfortable being taken to such places because Coburn’s raw and intimate words come from a place of knowing.
Coburn’s words transport you to another world, they gallop along as though you are watching a film; in fact, The Foal in the Wire would be well suited to the screen.
While the verse novel is short in length, it shouldn’t be rushed. Allow it to seep in and the words will remain with you for a long time. Coburn’s work offers hope and solace, reminding you the dark phases of life occur will inevitably pass.
Read: Book review: The Theory of Everything, Yumna Kassab
While it is ostensibly a Young Adult book, all readers will benefit from reading this verse novel. If you are keen to read more of Coburn’s work, check out his essay published in Verity La called ‘Home for the Rodeo’.
The Foal in the Wire by Robbie Coburn
Publisher: Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780734423603
Format: Paperback
Release date: 28 May 2025
RRP: $19.99
