Wild Horses of the Summer Sun

A Memoir of Iceland

Tory Bilski

A wondrous story of adventure and friendship featuring a group of women who ride Icelandic horses.

"Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us." - Virgina Woolf

Each June, Tory Bilski meets up with fellow women travelers in Reykjavik where they head to northern Iceland, near the Greenland Sea. They escape their ordinary lives to live an extraordinary one at a horse farm perched at the edge of the world. If only for a short while.

When they first came to Thingeyar, these women were strangers to one another. The only thing they had in common was their passion for Icelandic horses. However, over the years, their relationships with each other deepens, growing older together and keeping each other young.

Combining the self-discovery of Eat, Pray, Love, the sense of place of Under the Tuscan Sun, and the danger of Wild, Wild Horses of the Summer Sun revels in Tory's quest for the "wild" inside her.

These women leave behind the usual troubles at home: illnesses, aging parents, troubled teenagers, financial worries and embrace their desire for adventure. Buoyed by their friendships with each other and their growing attachments and bonds with the otherworldly horses they ride, the warmth of Thingeyrar's midnight sun carries these women through the rest of the year's trials and travails.

Filled with adventure and fresh humor, as well as an incredible portrait of Iceland and its remarkable equines, Wild Horses of the Summer Sun will enthrall and delight not just horse lovers, but those of us who yearn for a little more wild in everyday life.

Tory Bilski started the blog www.Icelandica.net in late November 2012 after more than a decade of traveling to Iceland.  Her short stories have been published in The Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, 13th Moon, and other literary magazines. Two of her short stories were nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She has a B.A. from Oswego State, and a M.A.L.S. from Wesleyan University. She works at Yale University and lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her family.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"When you’ve got friendship, a must-see global destination, and wild horses, what more is there to ask for?" Bustle

"Bilksi is undoubtedly enamored of the horses, a breed protected by law in Iceland for more than a thousand years, closely watching their actions and recounting their travels together with an almost mystical admiration. But she also closely observes her travel companions, these women with travails both everyday and extraordinary, whose adventures form the core of this rapturous travelogue." Booklist

"This charming saga of Icelandic cross-country riding has a little of everything—wild tales of mad gallops, centuries of the island's history and personal stories of redemption and revitalization. It made me want to take my turn there!" Wendy WIlliams, author of 'The Horse: The Epic History of Our Noble Companion'

"Bilski weaves a narrative of horses and friendship in windswept Iceland in this transportive memoir. Those with adventurous spirits and healthy amounts of wanderlust will devour this charming memoir." Publishers Weekly

“Tory Bilski’s witty memoir of her annual 'horse sabbaticals' to Iceland will open up an entirely new side of this scenic travel destination for you.” sheknows.com "19 Books That Will Take You on the Vacation You Can’t Actually Go On"

"Delving into notions of freedom, independence, expression, nature and adventure, Wild Horses of the Summer Sun is a magical, thought-provoking memoir.” TravelMag