All the Pretty Horses Study Guide

All the Pretty Horses is the tale of a year in the life of young John Grady Cole. It is a year filled with experiences that promote the growth and maturation of a sixteen year old, whose life is turned upside down by the death of a beloved family member and the loss of his home. The story begins as Cole enters the ranch home he has shared with his grandfather, after he returns from that grandfather's funeral. Friends and family mourned Cole's grandfather. A ranching family is assisted in its housekeeping by staff that continues its work from generation to generation. These are the duties of Luisa, Arturo, and Cole's old nursemaid, Abuela. Abuela had been the nursemaid to his mother and his mother's mother before him. For eighty-three years, the Grady family had ranched that land. Cole's mother was the last of the Grady line and the Grady name died with his grandfather. (read more)