The God of Animals

Published in 2007, The God of Animals is American novelist and short story writer Aryn Kyle’s debut book. Set in Desert Valley, Colorado, the bildungsroman novel follows 12-year-old Alice Winston as she dreams of both escaping and of helping her family during a difficult summer on the Winston's failing horse ranch. Narrated in the first person by Alice, this coming-of-age fiction story addresses themes of family, death, love, class, and friendship. In 2004, Kyle's short story “Foaling Season” won The Atlantic’s National Magazine Award for Fiction. She subsequently turned the story into the first chapter of The God of Animals.

The Winston's Colorado horse ranch has been in the family for several generations, but it has seen better days. Alice lives there with her father, Jody, and her chronically depressed mother, Marian, who has not left her bedroom in years. Alice remarks, "My mother had spent nearly my whole life in her bedroom. Nona said that […] one day, while I was still a baby, our mother had handed me to her, said she was tired, and gone upstairs to rest. She never came back down." Alice is essentially without guidance in her life because six months earlier, her 16-year-old sister, Nona, "ran off and married a cowboy."

As the school year ends, Polly Cain, one of Alice's schoolmates, drowns. Although she didn't really know her, Alice is fascinated by people's response to the girl’s death, and she wants to go to Polly's funeral. It's foaling season, however, and the ranch's first foal is due to be born that night. Shelia Altman, a riding student that Jody has taken on to provide extra money, wants to stay over to watch the birth. Even though it is a school night, Shelia’s mother allows it since the miracle of life is “beautiful.” Alice thinks back to the violence and tragedy of past foal births, one of which resulted in the death of the mother, but she simply smiles at Mrs. Altman and responds, "Yes, beautiful."



Alice lies to help protect the livelihood of the ranch. She often exaggerates Shelia's riding talents (as does Jody) to encourage the girl's parents to keep paying for lessons. She lies to the rich women who board their horses at the ranch, saying that she's seen a competing trainer abuse horses.

Alice also lies to her parents, saying she's okay when she's not. A growth spurt has rendered her clothes too small, but she knows money is tight and tries to her best to continue squeezing into her old clothes. Where that proves impossible, she dons Nona's left-behind clothes, which are hopelessly too big. Yet when her father spends what little money they have on frivolous things, such as a fancy saddle or an untrainable prize horse, Alice maintains her stoic front and fumes silently.

One day Alice hears a rumor that her English teacher, Mr. Delmar, was seen crying in his car over Polly's death. Alice goes to see him after school, pretending that she wants to get a head start on the summer reading list. She and Mr. Delmar begin talking about Polly, and Alice enjoys making up a faux relationship with the deceased girl, claiming that she and Polly were best friends. Soon Alice and her English teacher form an unconventional bond. Alice begins calling him every night, just as Polly used to, hiding with her phone in her closet so that her parents won't hear her.



In her conversations with Mr. Delmar, Alice invents the kind of life she wishes she had. Using details from Sheila's life as inspiration, she tells him that her father is a wealthy astronomer and that she has a luxurious bedroom. One night, they are discussing religion, and while both state that they don't believe in God, Alice says that there should be a God to watch over animals. Gradually she develops a crush on Mr. Delmar and believes that he loves her back. However, he is simply a floundering drunk.

Meanwhile, the rich women who board their horses at the Winston's ranch start spending their days there—riding, gossiping, and drinking from plastic cups. Alice nicknames them the Catfish. Emotionally starved Jody begins to get close with one of the women, Patty Jo, and they have an affair. Patty Jo is married to a doctor, so she uses her financial means to help Jody and Alice. She buys Alice new clothes and takes them out to eat at nice restaurants. Alice is hurt by her father's cheating but chooses to ignore it.

Suddenly Nona and her husband, Jerry, show up at the ranch. They eloped but have since had financial troubles and could think of nowhere else to go. One day, Patty Jo is riding Nona's horse, Yellow Cap, when he throws her. She is severely injured, breaking her facial bones in several places. Her doctor husband sees to her care, and the tragedy abruptly ends her affair with Jody.



Later, Jerry is trying to mount Alice on Yellow Cap when Jody sees them. Enraged, he beats Yellow Cap with a cane, terribly injuring him. Jerry shoots the horse to put him out of his misery. Nona is unable to forgive him for killing her horse, and they decide to get a divorce.

Meanwhile, Mr. Delmar has decided to move away without explanation. Alice speaks with him one last time in person. While she admits that her father is not an astronomer, it is too difficult for her to confess to any other lies. She ruminates, "…there was too much truth already, spinning around me, swelling through my mind. Any more, and I would have drowned in it."

With no one left to talk to, Alice spills the secret of her father's affair to Sheila. This revelation, coupled with Patty Jo's accident, finally brings the faltering ranch to its ruin. Patty Jo surprises Alice with a gift of money for college, and for the first time, Alice can realistically dream of a life outside the ranch.