Exploring Trust and Emotions in Ponies

Pony Confidential, a new novel by author Christina Lynch, is about an unlikely detective: a crime-solving pony who sets off to find his long-lost first owner. Penny, who was just a little girl when separated from Pony, is now an adult who has been accused of murder–and Pony is ready to clear her name. The book was inspired by a combination of tales from The Odyssey and Lynch's curiosity about the inner world of her own real-life pony, Flora. In today's episode, Lynch joins NPR's Scott Simon to talk about the emotional lives of animals, the novel's subtext about the legal system, and the parallels between Pony and Penny's respective confinement.

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