The Sureness of Horses-Summary of Chapters 1-12
Week 1: Chapters 1 and 2 (pages 2-19—18 pages)
-Exiting a plane, Diana Buchanan asks Wade Middleton’s help with a heavy saddle. He throws his back out. Guilt overcomes her conservatism; she drives him home. The next morning his friend Jorge Calderon comes seeking help at work.
-When Diana asks Wade about his interest in poetry he reads her a poem about horses. She’s not free to date, but they agree to meet over coffee.
-Wade and Diana discuss their kids. Wade’s daughter Amelia is a photo major back east at Bard; Diana’s kids, Beth and Robbie, are transferring to local schools. Starting Palo Alto High School, Beth is feeling lost.
Week 2: Chapters 3, 4, and 5 (pages 20-45—26 pages)
-Wade learns that Jorge has messed up with a customer and will be fired. Not only can he not save his friend, he can’t even warn him.
-Diana invites Wade to the ranch where she keeps her horse and introduces him to her friend’s horse, Artemis. Wade bonds with the horse.
-Diana still won’t date Wade, but, after he reads her one of his poems, she agrees to go to a poetry reading with him.
Week 3: Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 (pages 46-63—18 pages)
-At the reading, one of Wade’s friends reads a ribald poem that Diana considers so offensive that she walks out. Wade sadly writes her off.
-Diana talks to a friend in Dallas who likes poetry and convinces Diana she owes Wade an apology. Diana and Wade enter a new phase of their relationship.
-Diana is much warmer in her elegant condominium; they kiss for the first time. Between lessons and rides with Diana, Wade learns his way around horses.
Week 4: Chapters 10, 11, and 12 (pages 64-85—22 pages)
-Wade comes into his office to find Jorge in his guest chair—he’s being fired that morning. Wade counsels and comforts Jorge as he’s walked out the door.
-When Diana goes to Texas for Christmas, Wade eats a lonely breakfast in San Francisco, rides a rented horse, and phones Diana and Amelia.
-Part II of the novel opens as Diana returns on New Year’s Day. She meets Wade at the ranch, where she unrolls a blanket in a secret place off the trail. For the first time, they make love.
