A new generation of readers will be able to fall in love with Jinny and Shantih as Patricia Leitch’s classic series is back in print.
After years of work, the first six Jinny titles are out, as ebooks and in paperbacks with new covers. Two more are to be released this year and the remaining four next year; this will be the first time the complete series has been in print for 30 years.
Publisher Jane Badger, of Jane Badger Books, said one of the questions asked most of her has been “Why can’t you do the Jinny books?”
“In 2019, the Jinny books were being published by another company, so I thought that was that. However, Patricia Leitch’s heirs then had some problems with that company, and to cut a very long story short, they decided to publish with me instead. It did take a long while, literally years, to sort everything out, but here we are.
“I love these books. I think Jinny is so believable. I love Jinny’s passion for her Arab mare Shantih and for her family, Finmory and the moors, and her painting.
“Patricia Leitch is an amazing author. In the Jinny books she has so much to say about what it means to own something, and about letting go. She really was a trailblazer.”
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Those who read and loved the books in childhood will remember that they tell the story of Jinny who moves with her family from the city to the Scottish Highlands, where she meets chestnut Arab Shantih. The books are For Love of a Horse, A Devil to Ride, The Summer Riders, Night of the Red Horse, Gallop to the Hills, Horse in a Million, The Magic Pony, Ride Like the Wind, Chestnut Gold, Jump for the Moon, Horse of Fire and Running Wild.
The series has previously been published with different covers, and Jane said the new versions were inspired by Jinny, whose love of painting and drawing is central to the books.
“She’s an artist – it’s through winning a painting competition that she manages to buy Shantih,” Jane said. “I wanted covers that Jinny could have painted herself, and then I remembered some of Jenny Bell’s pictures I’d seen that had just the sort of swift, passionate style I thought Jinny would have used. Getting the feeling of the horse, its very being, over in paint. Jenny, fortunately, agreed to do it, and so here we are, with the very first illustrated covers.”
Shantih is modelled by Amira, who belongs to equine photographer Karen Budkiewicz; the model for Easter, who features later in the series, is Phoenix, another pure-bred Arab, who belongs to Gemma Al-Khayat.
The books are available as eBooks and paperbacks from Amazon and Kobo, and directly from Jane Badger Books. The paperbacks are £8.99 each; the eBooks £3.95.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
