IT’S just over 10 years since we lost Faugheen’s breeder, Dr John Waldron from Tuam, Co Galway.

Now news reaches us that John’s son Dara has written a book about how an abandoned border collie helped him to navigate his grief following his father’s death. Described as a book that “will do great good, and bring light to many lives,” A Sheepdog Named Oscar (published by Simon & Schuster) is a joyous tale of a shared journey of understanding between man and dog.

Anne Holland has been a contributor to The Irish Field, and is one of the most published authors writing about horse racing. Her new book is a little different, being the love story of her parents during World War II, and the story is gleaned from about 1,000 letters they shared.

Newly married, they then separated for four years, leaving Anne’s mother pregnant with a son, Tim. Racing in Darjeeling and Calcutta, alongside Kentish point-to-points, are the only equine references, but the book is still engrossing. Stand By To Get Married is published by Chiselbury.

The first book in a trilogy, Callie Coles’ Tangled Webs (published by Viking) concerns Sage Deverill who flees her marriage with a young son, and heads to her grandparents’ manor house in Newmarket. There she meets Rafe Dunbarton, an ambitious trainer with a gentle soul. Their friendship soon develops into more, but her past returns in a tangle of destruction and lies. Tangled Webs is a sweeping romance about finding courage, healing and hope.