Black Beauty

by Anna Sewell

"Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell is a novel published in 1877. Told as an autobiography narrated by a horse, it follows Black Beauty from his carefree days as a foal through hardships as a working horse in London to eventual retirement. Through the horse's perspective, the story reveals both cruelty and kindness in Victorian England's treatment of animals. Each chapter presents moral lessons about compassion and respect, not only toward horses but toward all beings. The groundbreaking novel became an immediate bestseller and remains one of history's most-read books.