A Photo Finish

"Violet is the jockey in this book. This one I put on the list because I wanted one where the sports person was a woman. Sports in general is so masculine, but women in sports are so strong. Every time I watch the Olympics, I see these amazing women do these amazing things—I just cannot imagine. There’s Rachael Blackmore, who races in the Grand National, which takes place near me every year. She was the first female jockey to win it, and that was only in 2021. It’s amazing to see more women come up through sports. There’s now a female bracket of Formula One called F1 Academy, introducing more women, because right now there are only 20 men in Formula One. So I really wanted to include Violet’s story of becoming a female jockey and facing sexism from other jockeys. People say that she’s just lucky because she has a good horse. It’s seeing all of the things that women have to fight against every single day. Violet has to stand up for herself and say, ‘This is what I want.’ At one point in the book, Cole, who is the man in the book, is unsure whether he’s going to be able to live with her being a jockey. His dad was a jockey and died during a race after he fell off his horse and was trampled. Cole saw that happen, so every time he sees Violet on a horse, he gets really anxious. It’s a fair human response, but she says to him, ‘I can’t give up my dreams because of your anxiety.’ It would be unfair to her, and it would also be unfair to him because he’d feel guilty for making her stop. She says, ‘I cannot change who I am, so if you want to be in a relationship with me, we need to figure out a way to make you more comfortable.’ If he were the jockey, she’d never tell him to stop. It’s always women getting told they have to change and be the good wife or the good mother. Violet says, ‘That’s not what I want. I want to be a jockey. I’d love to have you there. But if you’re not, we’re going to have to say goodbye now.’ I think seeing her take that stand is really important."