Home Page for Nicholas Evans

Photo by Brigitte Lacombe

Nicholas Evans spent his childhood in the English countryside watching American Westerns on TV, riding horses, and reading Jack London books, experiences he put to good use in writing The Horse Whisperer, an epic romance about a man with the power to heal both wild steeds and the desperate woman who comes to him for help. Evans was in dire straits himself when he began his first novel. His career as a journalist and screenwriter was sputtering and, although he'd produced a documentary about director David Lean, his own directing deal had fallen apart.

Inspired by a story he heard from an English blacksmith, Evans decided to write a book about a man who communicates with horses, a "horse whisperer." He spent six weeks doing research in the American West -- interviewing animal healers and witnessing awful equine exorcisms -- before returning to London to write. With mortgage payments looming, he showed the first half of his book to an agent friend. The ensuing war for the book's rights among publishers and Hollywood producers netted Evans $8 million, effectively ending his financial worries; he bought a new house in London, where he began work on his second novel, The Loop. Robert Redford directed and starred in the film version of The Horse Whisperer opposite Kristin Scott Thomas.