Around the British Isles in 80 Island Books: Book 55

Midnight on Lundy by Victoria Eveleigh - first published in 2009 , republished in 2012 as A Stallion called Midnight.

12 year old Jenny lives on Lundy with her widowed farmer father. She has always been home schooled by another islander but then she wins a scholarship to a boarding school in Bideford, North Devon. She really doesn't want to go and leave her father and the herd of semi wild Lundy ponies that she has secretly befriended, especially the stallion called Midnight, whose trust she has gradually been able to gain. However the other islanders and visitors think he is dangerous and for this reason and to prevent in-breeding in the small herd he is taken to the mainland by boat. His future is uncertain, as he proves to be untameable. Will Jenny be able to save him before he ends up as pet food? Of course she will, although she soon learns that owning a horse isn't as simple as she thinks it will be.

The story is set in the 1960s when the north and south lighthouses on Lundy were still manned and the island was still privately owned. It reminded me strongly of the many pony stories I read and enjoyed as a child in the 1970s. The locations on Lundy that feature in the story are well described e.g. Tibbetts, The Earthquake and the old quarries would easily be recognisable to anyone who has visited Lundy. There is a good sketch map of the island at the front of the book and a summarised history of the real Lundy ponies at the back of the book. 8/10

Islands covered - Lundy