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Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls - A Novel - Large Print Edition
1930s America, southern high Part love story, part coming-of-age novel, this is the moving, raw and exquisitely vivid story of an uncommon girl navigating a treacherous road to womanhood.Thea Atwell is fifteen years old in 1930, when, following a scandal for which she has been held responsible, she is 'exiled' from her wealthy and isolated Florida family to a debutante boarding school in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. As Thea grapples with the truth about her role in the tragic events of 1929, she finds herself enmeshed in the world of the Yonahlossee Riding Camp, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty and equestrienne prowess; where young women are indoctrinated in the importance of 'female education' yet expected to be married by twenty-one; a world so rarified as to be rendered immune (at least on the surface) to the Depression looming at the periphery, all overseen by a young headmaster who has paid a high price for abandoning his own privileged roots...
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First published June 4, 2013
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February 27, 2019
i was honestly pretty let down by this. it was one of the "it" books from 2013, so i was expecting to love it, but it really fell short of my expectations.
this book is narrated at a remove, from the perspective of an adult character looking back over her life and the decisions she made when she was a teenager, but it is told in the immediate first-person tense, with these occasional and jarring interjections from thea-now that kind of ruin the flow, and it is a sort of flabby read, with scenes that neither progress the narrative nor show any real insight into character or period or purpose.
there is just something bloodless about this book. it's not that there's no story here, there is: it's about thea, a young girl who has lived for fifteen years in entitled luxury on an isolated estate in florida, secure in the love of her doting parents, beloved twin brother and her older cousin georgie, riding her pony and wanting for nothing, who becomes involved in a scandal and is sent away to riding camp as punishment, as the wider country begins to feel the strain of the great depression. it is about the long-term aftereffects of the civil war on the southern leisure class, and the expectations of young, well-bred ladies and how easily a reputation can be tarnished. it is about the dawning realization that wealth and status are relative and not indefensible. it is about that fragile state of sexual awakening, of knowing and not-knowing, getting carried away into insalubrious situations that snowball and digging the pit of shame ever deeper, not caring about the consequences.
which sounds like it should be excellent, yeah? but the problem is with the character. thea seems to oscillate between naive and calculating, kind and cold, self-assured and insecure on every other page. it doesn't read like thea coming into her own and changing so much as an author who doesn't know what kind of response she wants the reader to have to her character. is thea a wronged ingenue or a femme fatale? she is both, and it just doesn't wash. it's as though there are two characters competing for the same story-space.
the story weaves between thea's life at camp and her time at home before being sent away, which will (eventually) relate the events that led to her getting sent away (which is telegraphed pretty early, so not really a shocker). the only thing unifying the two storylines is the presence of horses. horses, horses, horses. there is a lot of detail about horses and riding, the ways in which the rider develops a relationship with its mount through a combination of understanding the limitations of a horse's mental capacity and the rider's cruelty, and the power that is felt once the rider overcomes the horse's reluctance and is established as the dominant of the two. which, you would think, would have been very easy to then apply as a narrative motif to the relationships thea makes with other people, but nope. not really.
and the ending?? just a mess, for me, with no reason for the decisions she makes once she leaves yonahlossee. and the biggest letdown of an epilogue ever. not printed as such, so i guess the biggest letdown of a closure ever. really flat and bleak without purpose.
there are parts i really liked, so it's not a two-star or anything, but after the first third or so, once i started seeing its weaknesses, i disengaged a little, and perked up for the nice bits, but then kind of submerged into reading for plot.
there were better books in 2013.
come to my blog!
this book is narrated at a remove, from the perspective of an adult character looking back over her life and the decisions she made when she was a teenager, but it is told in the immediate first-person tense, with these occasional and jarring interjections from thea-now that kind of ruin the flow, and it is a sort of flabby read, with scenes that neither progress the narrative nor show any real insight into character or period or purpose.
there is just something bloodless about this book. it's not that there's no story here, there is: it's about thea, a young girl who has lived for fifteen years in entitled luxury on an isolated estate in florida, secure in the love of her doting parents, beloved twin brother and her older cousin georgie, riding her pony and wanting for nothing, who becomes involved in a scandal and is sent away to riding camp as punishment, as the wider country begins to feel the strain of the great depression. it is about the long-term aftereffects of the civil war on the southern leisure class, and the expectations of young, well-bred ladies and how easily a reputation can be tarnished. it is about the dawning realization that wealth and status are relative and not indefensible. it is about that fragile state of sexual awakening, of knowing and not-knowing, getting carried away into insalubrious situations that snowball and digging the pit of shame ever deeper, not caring about the consequences.
which sounds like it should be excellent, yeah? but the problem is with the character. thea seems to oscillate between naive and calculating, kind and cold, self-assured and insecure on every other page. it doesn't read like thea coming into her own and changing so much as an author who doesn't know what kind of response she wants the reader to have to her character. is thea a wronged ingenue or a femme fatale? she is both, and it just doesn't wash. it's as though there are two characters competing for the same story-space.
the story weaves between thea's life at camp and her time at home before being sent away, which will (eventually) relate the events that led to her getting sent away (which is telegraphed pretty early, so not really a shocker). the only thing unifying the two storylines is the presence of horses. horses, horses, horses. there is a lot of detail about horses and riding, the ways in which the rider develops a relationship with its mount through a combination of understanding the limitations of a horse's mental capacity and the rider's cruelty, and the power that is felt once the rider overcomes the horse's reluctance and is established as the dominant of the two. which, you would think, would have been very easy to then apply as a narrative motif to the relationships thea makes with other people, but nope. not really.
and the ending?? just a mess, for me, with no reason for the decisions she makes once she leaves yonahlossee. and the biggest letdown of an epilogue ever. not printed as such, so i guess the biggest letdown of a closure ever. really flat and bleak without purpose.
there are parts i really liked, so it's not a two-star or anything, but after the first third or so, once i started seeing its weaknesses, i disengaged a little, and perked up for the nice bits, but then kind of submerged into reading for plot.
there were better books in 2013.
come to my blog!
April 12, 2018
Many will claim this book was well written, but it's hard to see that when you're just so angry. Sure, the author drew in the reader by only threading in small hints as to why the main character, Thea, was sent away from home and to this riding camp.
Do not continue if you don't like spoilers. Normally I'm pretty good at keeping out spoilers, but this book just made me so angry that I feel like I must warn unsuspecting readers, and spoilers are the only way to do that.
Thea is a selfish, unlearning, horrible character. She has an affair with her cousin who has been like a brother to her- I don't care if it's from a different time period, I still find that revolting. Then she finds out he wants one thing from her (sex, not marriage), so you would think she would learn her lesson after her disgraced family sends her way. Nope. She spends most of the book yearning for home (why, after her affair with her cousin, her horrified family, and the incident in which her twin brother Sam maims and almost kills said cousin after finding out, is beyond me), even though almost all the girls are nice and friendly toward her. Then she has an affair with the handsome and married headmaster while his wife is conveniently gone for a month or so. She called it a crush earlier and is determined to control it, but a few weeks later and she's throwing himself at him. Keep in mind, this girl is SIXTEEN. Sixteen years old! And yet these people are running around, acting like morals and consequences just don't exist.
Moral of the story from the author (in her deluded mind): If you want something, no matter how bad it is, you should just go after it because everything will turn out just fine for you, if not for the people in your life. But don't worry about them. They deserve the consequences of YOUR actions and you shouldn't have to worry about a thing because you're passionate.
Which brings me to another point: Thea is a very inconsistent character. She's described as being controlled, always watching other people and listening to their problems but not sharing any of her own, but later headmaster Mr. Holmes calls her passionate and tells her she wants so many things so much and that's not a problem. If anything, it's a problem for the people who try to stand in her way.
WHAT??? What kind of message is that? That's also not even remotely true! There's something to be said for headstrong people, but every action has consequences, and sometimes, it's the FREAKING POLICE who get in the way of so-called passionate people. What do you think they do with people who murder others because of an act of passion? Duh. Come on.
So yeah, everything turns out great for wonderful, ideal and selfless Thea. She wins the horserace, receives no consequences for her affair with the headmaster, oh-so-selflessly takes the fall for a friend's indiscretions and tells her family she comes home for her brother.
So she goes home. Her cousin, Georgie, has had mental issues from brain damage (when, oh, I don't know, her twin brother tried to kill him) and later dies, her family sends Georgie's parents money because they feel guilty and therefore have to sell the house and horse. Oh, and guess what Thea cares about? She only cares about the horse, even after noticing how sad her mother is being torn from the place she fell in love with. Nope, only cares about her horse. So she sees what a crap life her family has now BECAUSE OF HER, and she says she wants to leave. Oh, but not before she talks with her brother and this lovely little exchange happens:
"“Do you remember how Mother used to say that our lives were blessed, that we had our own private patch of paradise?”
I nodded, and met his eyes in my reflection on the window.
“Well, she doesn’t say that anymore.” He gave a short laugh. “I thought God was watching us.” He was quiet for a moment, and it was all I could do not to interrupt. I had never heard this before. I didn’t quite believe it. “I know it’s silly. But I thought that God knew we were special.” He smiled. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, Thea. It would be better if he were dead.”
“Hush,” I said. “Who can say that?”
“I can say that!” he said, almost shouted. “I can!” He shook his head. “I can,” he said more quietly, “because I have been here and I have seen all of it. All of it, Thea.”
“All of it,” I repeated, surprised by the sound of my own voice. “You should leave, Sam. It’s not your mess.”
“Whose is it, then?”
“No one’s. Just a series of events. A series of events,” I repeated.
“No, Thea. It’s ours.”
“It’s not mine.” I rose, and walked over to the window, peered over his shoulder. The sun was rising, and street sweepers were making a neat job of clearing the sidewalks. “There’s all these people in the world, and we are only two of them. Mother and Father thought they were punishing me, by sending me away. It was a reward, to stay here. But they were wrong. It was not a punishment.”
“You learned so much, at camp.” I could smell his breath, the particular tang it had whenever he hadn’t slept long enough.
“I learned enough,” I said. I took his hand, and squeezed it. “You should leave, too. Our lives are elsewhere.”
He laughed. “Where?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? But God grants happiness only to those who seek it.”"
Yeah. That's what Thea got from this whole thing. That her happiness is the only thing that matters, and she does not accept any responsibility for what happened. I'm not saying she should take full blame, but for God's sake, her whole affair with her freaking cousin started this little "series of events"!!
I'm so mad right now. I am actually typing furiously. As my sister says, "intelligent authors write intelligent books." This was not an intelligent book. This sounded like one big excuse for graphic incest sex scenes, as well as graphic sex scenes of an older married man taking advantage of a younger girl. Just because she's offering doesn't mean you should be taking. Wonder why the age of consent is 18? Just guess. It was also an excuse to avoid any responsibility and to say that anything bad that happens should just be accepted because the person is selfish. Sorry, passionate.
All in all, I would advise any self-respecting person to stay as far away from this book as possible. It's not that well written, the characters are horrible, horrible people and there is generally nothing redeeming about this book.
Do not continue if you don't like spoilers. Normally I'm pretty good at keeping out spoilers, but this book just made me so angry that I feel like I must warn unsuspecting readers, and spoilers are the only way to do that.
Thea is a selfish, unlearning, horrible character. She has an affair with her cousin who has been like a brother to her- I don't care if it's from a different time period, I still find that revolting. Then she finds out he wants one thing from her (sex, not marriage), so you would think she would learn her lesson after her disgraced family sends her way. Nope. She spends most of the book yearning for home (why, after her affair with her cousin, her horrified family, and the incident in which her twin brother Sam maims and almost kills said cousin after finding out, is beyond me), even though almost all the girls are nice and friendly toward her. Then she has an affair with the handsome and married headmaster while his wife is conveniently gone for a month or so. She called it a crush earlier and is determined to control it, but a few weeks later and she's throwing himself at him. Keep in mind, this girl is SIXTEEN. Sixteen years old! And yet these people are running around, acting like morals and consequences just don't exist.
Moral of the story from the author (in her deluded mind): If you want something, no matter how bad it is, you should just go after it because everything will turn out just fine for you, if not for the people in your life. But don't worry about them. They deserve the consequences of YOUR actions and you shouldn't have to worry about a thing because you're passionate.
Which brings me to another point: Thea is a very inconsistent character. She's described as being controlled, always watching other people and listening to their problems but not sharing any of her own, but later headmaster Mr. Holmes calls her passionate and tells her she wants so many things so much and that's not a problem. If anything, it's a problem for the people who try to stand in her way.
WHAT??? What kind of message is that? That's also not even remotely true! There's something to be said for headstrong people, but every action has consequences, and sometimes, it's the FREAKING POLICE who get in the way of so-called passionate people. What do you think they do with people who murder others because of an act of passion? Duh. Come on.
So yeah, everything turns out great for wonderful, ideal and selfless Thea. She wins the horserace, receives no consequences for her affair with the headmaster, oh-so-selflessly takes the fall for a friend's indiscretions and tells her family she comes home for her brother.
So she goes home. Her cousin, Georgie, has had mental issues from brain damage (when, oh, I don't know, her twin brother tried to kill him) and later dies, her family sends Georgie's parents money because they feel guilty and therefore have to sell the house and horse. Oh, and guess what Thea cares about? She only cares about the horse, even after noticing how sad her mother is being torn from the place she fell in love with. Nope, only cares about her horse. So she sees what a crap life her family has now BECAUSE OF HER, and she says she wants to leave. Oh, but not before she talks with her brother and this lovely little exchange happens:
"“Do you remember how Mother used to say that our lives were blessed, that we had our own private patch of paradise?”
I nodded, and met his eyes in my reflection on the window.
“Well, she doesn’t say that anymore.” He gave a short laugh. “I thought God was watching us.” He was quiet for a moment, and it was all I could do not to interrupt. I had never heard this before. I didn’t quite believe it. “I know it’s silly. But I thought that God knew we were special.” He smiled. “I didn’t mean to hurt him, Thea. It would be better if he were dead.”
“Hush,” I said. “Who can say that?”
“I can say that!” he said, almost shouted. “I can!” He shook his head. “I can,” he said more quietly, “because I have been here and I have seen all of it. All of it, Thea.”
“All of it,” I repeated, surprised by the sound of my own voice. “You should leave, Sam. It’s not your mess.”
“Whose is it, then?”
“No one’s. Just a series of events. A series of events,” I repeated.
“No, Thea. It’s ours.”
“It’s not mine.” I rose, and walked over to the window, peered over his shoulder. The sun was rising, and street sweepers were making a neat job of clearing the sidewalks. “There’s all these people in the world, and we are only two of them. Mother and Father thought they were punishing me, by sending me away. It was a reward, to stay here. But they were wrong. It was not a punishment.”
“You learned so much, at camp.” I could smell his breath, the particular tang it had whenever he hadn’t slept long enough.
“I learned enough,” I said. I took his hand, and squeezed it. “You should leave, too. Our lives are elsewhere.”
He laughed. “Where?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? But God grants happiness only to those who seek it.”"
Yeah. That's what Thea got from this whole thing. That her happiness is the only thing that matters, and she does not accept any responsibility for what happened. I'm not saying she should take full blame, but for God's sake, her whole affair with her freaking cousin started this little "series of events"!!
I'm so mad right now. I am actually typing furiously. As my sister says, "intelligent authors write intelligent books." This was not an intelligent book. This sounded like one big excuse for graphic incest sex scenes, as well as graphic sex scenes of an older married man taking advantage of a younger girl. Just because she's offering doesn't mean you should be taking. Wonder why the age of consent is 18? Just guess. It was also an excuse to avoid any responsibility and to say that anything bad that happens should just be accepted because the person is selfish. Sorry, passionate.
All in all, I would advise any self-respecting person to stay as far away from this book as possible. It's not that well written, the characters are horrible, horrible people and there is generally nothing redeeming about this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2015
A copy of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls was provided to me by Riverhead/Penguin Group (USA) for review purposes.
The authors childhood fondness for horseback riding sets the scene of this story about teenage angst, boarding school drama and a family scandal that changes a girl forever. Thea Atwell has lived with her family on their Florida farm since she was born but after a recent scandal her parents have sent her to The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls. The back story slowly unfurls as her time at camp passes.
Going in to this novel I had already seen many rave reviews for it and that it was also on several Summer Reading Lists. It's quoted as being 'lush, sexy and evocative'. Entertainment Weekly says '...the lovely descriptions of riding and adolescence have a spellbinding effect.' Kirkus Reviews called it "an unusually accomplished and nuanced coming-of-age drama." Suffice it to say I went into this with extremely high expectations. My overall opinion? This is one terribly dull book that is not helped by the attempts to shock and disgust by the author.
100+ pages in and it's brought to our attention that 2 months have passed but you could have fooled me considering nothing of consequence had actually occurred. (But honestly, nothing of consequence EVER seems to happen. The entire book.) The majority of those 100+ introductory pages felt like a whole bunch of inconsequential filler. It's also extremely disjointed and lacks a much needed flow. There's a dance, then they have riding lessons, and now it's bath time. It's never a full day though so it's difficult to grasp exactly how much time has even passed.
'I knew what it was like, to love horses. But I also knew what it was like to love humans. I knew what it was like to want, to desire so intensely you were willing to throw everything else into its fire.'
Lines like that if read without context would make me think this was a fascinating book about a headstrong and passionate girl. But the rest of the lines spoke of a girl that wasn't raised around anyone but family and had terrible trouble adapting with suddenly being shipped off to camp. Thea is a terribly awkward girl that seems extraordinarily confused with life in general and her purpose in it. It was not a joyful story to read about.
The writing was at times extremely well done but as a whole ended up being excessively descriptive and made the story feel long and drawn out. This was an extremely lackluster and disjointed story that only managed to keep me interested enough to find out the 'scandal' that caused her to be sent to camp in the first place. The shock factor was there, however, it lacked any significance and essentially ended up being overly superfluous and just left a bad taste in my mouth.
The authors childhood fondness for horseback riding sets the scene of this story about teenage angst, boarding school drama and a family scandal that changes a girl forever. Thea Atwell has lived with her family on their Florida farm since she was born but after a recent scandal her parents have sent her to The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls. The back story slowly unfurls as her time at camp passes.
Going in to this novel I had already seen many rave reviews for it and that it was also on several Summer Reading Lists. It's quoted as being 'lush, sexy and evocative'. Entertainment Weekly says '...the lovely descriptions of riding and adolescence have a spellbinding effect.' Kirkus Reviews called it "an unusually accomplished and nuanced coming-of-age drama." Suffice it to say I went into this with extremely high expectations. My overall opinion? This is one terribly dull book that is not helped by the attempts to shock and disgust by the author.
100+ pages in and it's brought to our attention that 2 months have passed but you could have fooled me considering nothing of consequence had actually occurred. (But honestly, nothing of consequence EVER seems to happen. The entire book.) The majority of those 100+ introductory pages felt like a whole bunch of inconsequential filler. It's also extremely disjointed and lacks a much needed flow. There's a dance, then they have riding lessons, and now it's bath time. It's never a full day though so it's difficult to grasp exactly how much time has even passed.
'I knew what it was like, to love horses. But I also knew what it was like to love humans. I knew what it was like to want, to desire so intensely you were willing to throw everything else into its fire.'
Lines like that if read without context would make me think this was a fascinating book about a headstrong and passionate girl. But the rest of the lines spoke of a girl that wasn't raised around anyone but family and had terrible trouble adapting with suddenly being shipped off to camp. Thea is a terribly awkward girl that seems extraordinarily confused with life in general and her purpose in it. It was not a joyful story to read about.
The writing was at times extremely well done but as a whole ended up being excessively descriptive and made the story feel long and drawn out. This was an extremely lackluster and disjointed story that only managed to keep me interested enough to find out the 'scandal' that caused her to be sent to camp in the first place. The shock factor was there, however, it lacked any significance and essentially ended up being overly superfluous and just left a bad taste in my mouth.
June 23, 2013
This is terrible. I have struggled through half of it and I give up. The narrator, Thea, is a whiny, vacuous twit and the narration itself wanders around pointlessly while nothing much seems to happen. At this point in the novel it's pretty obvious why Thea was sent away--eh, who cares--and that something distasteful may happen with the headmaster of the girls' school in the near future, and that someone else LIKE-likes girls and blah blah blah. I just don't want to read about any of it.
I thought I would like the horsey bits but I did not--the author may be an equestrienne herself, i don't know, but she doesn't come across as having much of a feel for horses, in my opinion, and she does a poor job of portraying any real warmth between Thea and her pony. In fact I pretty much decided to stop reading after she describes an instance wherein Thea beats her horse with a riding crop and states that horses are "dumb". They are many things, and they don't, obviously, think and reason the way humans do, but they are far from "dumb". I read on through the accident at the riding ring where Thea is teaching the headmaster's daughters how to ride (how is it that they live at a riding school with an in-house riding instructor and yet it never crossed anyone's mind that they might like to learn until Idiot Girl Thea came along, BTW?) and then I said, ah, screw this. Life is too short to read bad books.
I thought I would like the horsey bits but I did not--the author may be an equestrienne herself, i don't know, but she doesn't come across as having much of a feel for horses, in my opinion, and she does a poor job of portraying any real warmth between Thea and her pony. In fact I pretty much decided to stop reading after she describes an instance wherein Thea beats her horse with a riding crop and states that horses are "dumb". They are many things, and they don't, obviously, think and reason the way humans do, but they are far from "dumb". I read on through the accident at the riding ring where Thea is teaching the headmaster's daughters how to ride (how is it that they live at a riding school with an in-house riding instructor and yet it never crossed anyone's mind that they might like to learn until Idiot Girl Thea came along, BTW?) and then I said, ah, screw this. Life is too short to read bad books.
July 26, 2013
I was not so angry with my situation that I could not discern beauty.
2.5 stars. The above phrase from the book describes my exact feelings about Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls. I can't remember the last time I've wanted to love a book more than I wanted to love this one. When the tale is about young women coming of age at an equestrian boarding school, sequestered away like only the protected rich in the middle of the great depression could be, you'd think that there would be so much potential for greatness in the telling.
Yonahlossee, an island of rich girls in the middle of the poorest.
My Nana had fascinating stories about what it was like to live through the depression. I love looking at our family album and seeing all of these glorious, glamorous (even wearing hand-me-downs, everyone seemed SO well-coiffed!) and beautiful snapshots of history. While this book was full of beautiful prose, I would not consider it a beautiful snapshot of history.
I was a young woman when young women were powerless.
I was expecting a lush and scandalous story, not unlike what the blurbs promised. In fact, I did manage to find both lush and scandalous happenings within the pages of Yonahlossee. The descriptions of even the most trivial things, were beautifully designed and explained. The amount of highlights which I made in my copy of Yonahlossee were many.
The pain was part of the pleasure, and both were my memory.
Sadly, the beautiful prose was not enough to carry a story which floundered for a great deal of the first half, with no real purpose other than to serve as filler until enough time had passed to recall the main character's scandalous past. I kept stubbornly reading because I knew that a big reveal was coming up around the bend. Heck, every reader knew it. This is what we'd been prepped for from the first page.
I was still more child than adult. I was not a monster but a confused, wronged girl. They blamed me. And so I came to Yonahlossee a person worthy of blame.
Even with the slow first half, when the secrets started to come out - when everything started coming to a head, I was completely sucked in to the story. Hints of scandal past started to blur as scandal present came in to focus. While I think that some of the happenings were almost too over-the-top, once things started happening which I hadn't been expecting, I was suddenly glued to the pages while I waited to see what would become of Thea. Would she finally find the happiness that she so desperately needed, after being cast aside by her family?
They traded you, Thea. They sent you here and kept your brother.
So what happened? Well, that is not for me to tell or I'd be giving too much away. All I can say is that (for me) it's not necessarily about needing a good ending or a bad ending, but more about finding a conclusion which resonates with the reader. Unfortunately, I felt like I spent so much time waiting for something to happen and didn't get much to show for it other than a bunch of answers which came with little fanfare and not enough resolution for me to feel like I'd spent my precious reading time wisely.
Back then, all that want was a dangerous thing.
Who would I recommend Yonahlossee for? If I had to find a niche, I would probably lean toward the literary fiction crowd, those preferring an emphasis on darker or vintage-feeling literature. While I wasn't a big fan of this book, I think there's enough material here to provide for some interesting discussion (a movie would be absolutely gorgeous with this setting). Even though the main character is of a younger age, I am shelving this as adult for themes and content because it wouldn't really appeal to the mainstream YA circle.
But if you're going to go vintage for this book, you'll need to have a martini to accompany your reading. After all, it's what my Nana would have done.
July 27, 2013
I'm going to quote another reader's review because I identify with what she said:
"She wrote a complicated, imperfect, totally screwed up character who still manages, at times, to be loving, brave and kind. Thea is very much a product of her circumstances, and looking back I think she does the best she can with what she has. Most importantly, she survives, and she learns to accept herself for who she is. Sure, she makes some terrible choices - but haven't we all? I think that's why I resented her so much at times; she evokes many of the things I dislike, and fear, about myself. But this makes Thea an honest, if flawed, character, and that's something I can appreciate."
Set in the Depression era, I was initially drawn to this book because, of course, horses were involved. I love the relationship between girls and their horses and how that stays with them throughout their lives. I had mixed emotions about Thea and her behavior but I still cared about her. And though others were disappointed with the ending, I wasn't. It seemed meant to be. This one will stay with me a while.
"She wrote a complicated, imperfect, totally screwed up character who still manages, at times, to be loving, brave and kind. Thea is very much a product of her circumstances, and looking back I think she does the best she can with what she has. Most importantly, she survives, and she learns to accept herself for who she is. Sure, she makes some terrible choices - but haven't we all? I think that's why I resented her so much at times; she evokes many of the things I dislike, and fear, about myself. But this makes Thea an honest, if flawed, character, and that's something I can appreciate."
Set in the Depression era, I was initially drawn to this book because, of course, horses were involved. I love the relationship between girls and their horses and how that stays with them throughout their lives. I had mixed emotions about Thea and her behavior but I still cared about her. And though others were disappointed with the ending, I wasn't. It seemed meant to be. This one will stay with me a while.
July 22, 2013
I am going to be one of the few people who hated this book (I can tell). My problems with it are many. First off, I found the writing style to be pretentious and awkward. The sentence structures read very unevenly to my ear and I never got pulled into the story because the language was so jarring. My next complaint would be that the setting and time period were very generic. For a novel set during the beginning of the Great Depression and taking place in Blue Ridge Mountains, neither time nor place came alive for me. I knew that's when and where they were set because that's what the writing told me, but I certainly wouldn't have guessed so under other circumstances. In my long list of complaints I had to take extreme exception to Thea herself. I certainly don't demand that my main characters be sympathetic, sometimes the villeins are all the more compelling for their evil, but Thea struck me as spoiled, not strong-willed. Sure, her family seemed to have sheltered her and limited her interactions with others besides her twin brother and family, but Thea seemed more than comfortable with that.
Her "big disgrace" if you can call it that ****beware the spoilers ahead*** was a not so innocent sexual affair with her cousin Georgie. I say not so innocent because they fooled around quite a bit and Thea in her narration expresses doubts about the wisdom of the affair and yet her biggest concern is getting caught. When they actually decide to consummate their relationship, Thea suddenly gets cold feet after and realizes she's been used. This humiliation and her childish response leads to Georgie being struck down by her brother, where upon he basically is never completely right in the head. The family doesn't quite know what happened but they suspect Thea has had sex and could become pregnant. They immediately ship her off to a girl's boarding school, which is a sort of upper class school for girls with horses. I wasn't quite sure why they would send her away to someplace she might actually enjoy (Thea loves to ride, so why reward her behavior?)
You'd think the school would be a sin-bin, full of other naughty girls, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so again, why send Thea there? Surely there are other equally out-of-the way places they could have parked her. Despite having lived in a social bubble, Thea immediately susses out the politics of the various girls and manages to attach herself to the popular Sissy, thus ensuring a fairly easy time of it. She decides to devote herself to two goals: Winning the spring show so her picture will be enshrined on the office wall, and seducing the headmaster. You'd think after her second thoughts with Georgie, she'd be off men and sex altogether but she's become quite wanton. She even uses the headmaster's children in sham concern and friendship to further her ends to bed the headmaster.
The author seems to want to paint Thea as this strong-willed young girl, claiming her sexuality in a time and place that frowns on such conduct and knowledge but instead she came across as a greedy little girl, hungry to have the forbidden, regardless of the costs to others. She was shallow and amoral and frankly rather boring. It even took energy to dislike her. She might have been redeemed for me by her act of self-sacrifice at the end (ruining her reputation to save another girl's) but here again it is a calculated act to allow her to leave the school and reunite, if only briefly with her brother and home.
The ending was disjointed and if Thea had gained any self-knowledge it seemed to be she was a girl who, "wanted too much" and her big revelation was that she was such a girl and she was willing to pay the price for it.
The worst sin for me, personally, was the lack of horses! For a book about a riding camp there wasn't much riding or bonds with the horses. I'm sure others will perhaps love this, and find it an amazing first novel by a rising young talent, for me it was pretentious drivel and best shelved in the bin. I only finished it because a friend lent me her copy and I felt obligated. Life is too short to read bad books.
Her "big disgrace" if you can call it that ****beware the spoilers ahead*** was a not so innocent sexual affair with her cousin Georgie. I say not so innocent because they fooled around quite a bit and Thea in her narration expresses doubts about the wisdom of the affair and yet her biggest concern is getting caught. When they actually decide to consummate their relationship, Thea suddenly gets cold feet after and realizes she's been used. This humiliation and her childish response leads to Georgie being struck down by her brother, where upon he basically is never completely right in the head. The family doesn't quite know what happened but they suspect Thea has had sex and could become pregnant. They immediately ship her off to a girl's boarding school, which is a sort of upper class school for girls with horses. I wasn't quite sure why they would send her away to someplace she might actually enjoy (Thea loves to ride, so why reward her behavior?)
You'd think the school would be a sin-bin, full of other naughty girls, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so again, why send Thea there? Surely there are other equally out-of-the way places they could have parked her. Despite having lived in a social bubble, Thea immediately susses out the politics of the various girls and manages to attach herself to the popular Sissy, thus ensuring a fairly easy time of it. She decides to devote herself to two goals: Winning the spring show so her picture will be enshrined on the office wall, and seducing the headmaster. You'd think after her second thoughts with Georgie, she'd be off men and sex altogether but she's become quite wanton. She even uses the headmaster's children in sham concern and friendship to further her ends to bed the headmaster.
The author seems to want to paint Thea as this strong-willed young girl, claiming her sexuality in a time and place that frowns on such conduct and knowledge but instead she came across as a greedy little girl, hungry to have the forbidden, regardless of the costs to others. She was shallow and amoral and frankly rather boring. It even took energy to dislike her. She might have been redeemed for me by her act of self-sacrifice at the end (ruining her reputation to save another girl's) but here again it is a calculated act to allow her to leave the school and reunite, if only briefly with her brother and home.
The ending was disjointed and if Thea had gained any self-knowledge it seemed to be she was a girl who, "wanted too much" and her big revelation was that she was such a girl and she was willing to pay the price for it.
The worst sin for me, personally, was the lack of horses! For a book about a riding camp there wasn't much riding or bonds with the horses. I'm sure others will perhaps love this, and find it an amazing first novel by a rising young talent, for me it was pretentious drivel and best shelved in the bin. I only finished it because a friend lent me her copy and I felt obligated. Life is too short to read bad books.
May 19, 2013
This is one of those books that I quite enjoyed but did not love. I'd been looking forward to it and it delivered: the writing is skillful and evocative, the characters are interesting and there's a simmering tension throughout that kept me turning pages.
The book begins with 15-year-old Thea Atwell's arrival at the eponymous camp, which doubles as a year-round boarding school. We learn immediately that Thea's parents have sent her to Yonahlossee due to some sort of bad behavior at home, and short chapters building up to that event are interwoven with her life at the camp. Looking back, this isn't an action-packed sort of book--Thea makes friends, has sexual encounters, rides horses--but it's one that kept my attention throughout, with a combination of skillful pacing, secrets doled out bit by bit, and a persistent sense of complications simmering beneath the surface. The Depression is just beginning when Thea arrives at Yonahlossee in 1930, and provides an apt metaphor for the grown-up problems the privileged girls must learn to face.
Told in the first person, this is very much Thea's story, and she's a complex character although not always a nice one; it's easy to sympathize with her and get caught up in her story. Most of the other characters are also vivid, and while we don't get to know all of them very well, I believed in them and came away with the sense that there is more to them than we can see through Thea's eyes. The biggest exception is the headmaster, who seemed less than fully fleshed out. But I admire DiSclafani's ability to write convincingly about the society of girls at the school, and without resorting to common stereotypes like the bullying rival: the girls we get to know all feel like individuals and their relationships and group dynamics ring true.
The writing is also good: atmospheric and sometimes evocative, providing a great sense of place both in the scenes set at Yonahlossee in the Appalachian Mountains, and the ones set in Thea's home in Florida. There's also a strong sense of the cultural context; although the story is set less than a century ago and not so far from where I live, it's in many ways a foreign place. Thea's voice is believable, although for a story meant to be told by an older character looking back on her life, we don't hear much about what she thinks of the events in hindsight. In particular, there's a surprising lack of awareness of the bad choices made by virtually all the adults in her life, but perhaps just because readers are meant to come to our own conclusions.
A few words on the sex, which has generated mixed reactions. Thea's sexual awakening is an important part of the book, and there's an innocence-vs-transgression dynamic that runs through these scenes; she's caught up in the eroticism of it, while it's left to readers to realize how inappropriate the people she's picked really are. Ultimately the sex scenes are about the physical--if you're looking for romance, you'll be disappointed--so they're rather explicit, although not unusually so by the standards of adult fiction. In sex as in other areas of her life, Thea is an active character who goes after what she wants, which keeps her story interesting although she makes some bad decisions.
Overall, an enjoyable and well-written book that would make worthwhile summer reading.... or whatever season you want, really. (Far be it from me to tell you when to read the book.) I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my favorites list, but I will be interested to see what this author does next.
The book begins with 15-year-old Thea Atwell's arrival at the eponymous camp, which doubles as a year-round boarding school. We learn immediately that Thea's parents have sent her to Yonahlossee due to some sort of bad behavior at home, and short chapters building up to that event are interwoven with her life at the camp. Looking back, this isn't an action-packed sort of book--Thea makes friends, has sexual encounters, rides horses--but it's one that kept my attention throughout, with a combination of skillful pacing, secrets doled out bit by bit, and a persistent sense of complications simmering beneath the surface. The Depression is just beginning when Thea arrives at Yonahlossee in 1930, and provides an apt metaphor for the grown-up problems the privileged girls must learn to face.
Told in the first person, this is very much Thea's story, and she's a complex character although not always a nice one; it's easy to sympathize with her and get caught up in her story. Most of the other characters are also vivid, and while we don't get to know all of them very well, I believed in them and came away with the sense that there is more to them than we can see through Thea's eyes. The biggest exception is the headmaster, who seemed less than fully fleshed out. But I admire DiSclafani's ability to write convincingly about the society of girls at the school, and without resorting to common stereotypes like the bullying rival: the girls we get to know all feel like individuals and their relationships and group dynamics ring true.
The writing is also good: atmospheric and sometimes evocative, providing a great sense of place both in the scenes set at Yonahlossee in the Appalachian Mountains, and the ones set in Thea's home in Florida. There's also a strong sense of the cultural context; although the story is set less than a century ago and not so far from where I live, it's in many ways a foreign place. Thea's voice is believable, although for a story meant to be told by an older character looking back on her life, we don't hear much about what she thinks of the events in hindsight. In particular, there's a surprising lack of awareness of the bad choices made by virtually all the adults in her life, but perhaps just because readers are meant to come to our own conclusions.
A few words on the sex, which has generated mixed reactions. Thea's sexual awakening is an important part of the book, and there's an innocence-vs-transgression dynamic that runs through these scenes; she's caught up in the eroticism of it, while it's left to readers to realize how inappropriate the people she's picked really are. Ultimately the sex scenes are about the physical--if you're looking for romance, you'll be disappointed--so they're rather explicit, although not unusually so by the standards of adult fiction. In sex as in other areas of her life, Thea is an active character who goes after what she wants, which keeps her story interesting although she makes some bad decisions.
Overall, an enjoyable and well-written book that would make worthwhile summer reading.... or whatever season you want, really. (Far be it from me to tell you when to read the book.) I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my favorites list, but I will be interested to see what this author does next.
September 12, 2013
Unlike many other reviewers, I didn't expect to like this book; I never expect to like a book that has been raved about the way this one was. And at first I didn't like it. I probably wouldn't have kept reading it except that I wanted to know exactly what the main character had done that had caused her parents to send her away.
I'm glad I did, because I ended up liking the book immensely. I think the problem with the first part is that we know so little about the main character, Thea Atwell, that it's hard to make sense of her thoughts and actions. Once the back story starts to be filled in, it's much easier to relate to her.
I wouldn't call this book "sexy" as much as frank and realistic. It isn't easy to depict what it's like when adolescents first begin to awaken to their sexual potential and I applaud the author for doing such a fine job of depicting the burgeoning sexual awareness of a young girl in Depression era America.
I fault the reviews that emphasized the sex in the book. In the end this was about growing up and coming into one's own in the world beyond one's family and one's past.
I'm glad I did, because I ended up liking the book immensely. I think the problem with the first part is that we know so little about the main character, Thea Atwell, that it's hard to make sense of her thoughts and actions. Once the back story starts to be filled in, it's much easier to relate to her.
I wouldn't call this book "sexy" as much as frank and realistic. It isn't easy to depict what it's like when adolescents first begin to awaken to their sexual potential and I applaud the author for doing such a fine job of depicting the burgeoning sexual awareness of a young girl in Depression era America.
I fault the reviews that emphasized the sex in the book. In the end this was about growing up and coming into one's own in the world beyond one's family and one's past.
August 4, 2013
I enjoyed this book. It is, however, not a feel-good story. Basically I'd describe it as a dark coming of age novel featuring a flawed and not entirely likable narrator.
That being said, I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for the character of Thea - a 16 year old girl raised in isolated privilege who has been sent away after a family tragedy/near-scandal. Thea does not make good choices but to me this seemed more a function of her upbringing than anything else. Her life with her family in Florida is so sheltered and removed from the rest of the world and her parents - especially her mother - have not imbued her with a value system that extends much beyond good manners, proper horse care and being pretty.
The camp/school and its inhabitants is well-rendered and the author is clearly a horse person because the joy of horses and riding is wonderfully expressed. I also found the time period - the early years of the Great Depression - added an interesting tension and poignancy as we see how the lives of these girls who have always only known only comfort and privilege grapple with their shifting realities.
Recommend.
That being said, I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for the character of Thea - a 16 year old girl raised in isolated privilege who has been sent away after a family tragedy/near-scandal. Thea does not make good choices but to me this seemed more a function of her upbringing than anything else. Her life with her family in Florida is so sheltered and removed from the rest of the world and her parents - especially her mother - have not imbued her with a value system that extends much beyond good manners, proper horse care and being pretty.
The camp/school and its inhabitants is well-rendered and the author is clearly a horse person because the joy of horses and riding is wonderfully expressed. I also found the time period - the early years of the Great Depression - added an interesting tension and poignancy as we see how the lives of these girls who have always only known only comfort and privilege grapple with their shifting realities.
Recommend.
July 2, 2013
Made it to page 186. This is a terrible book that started off with some good writing and what looked to be a promising story. However, the author mistakenly believes that slowly and painfully unspooling the story of what happened before the book begins substitutes for tension within the book itself. But I could have forgiven that had I cared about the characters or their world. I couldn't read one more page. And that's just the beginning.
She had so many details wrong,especially about horses and the N.C. mountains. So many manufactured situations designed to create action. For instance, when a frightened horse ran away, there was a fear that the horse would disappear into the mountains (huh? Has she never heard that if you give a horse its head, it will take you back home?). And other instances where horses and their people were wrongly portrayed.
Worst of all was that this book had a contrived, inauthentic heart. This is the first time I have ever said this about a book but I really would like my money back.
A very tiresome, overrated, grinding piece of work.
She had so many details wrong,especially about horses and the N.C. mountains. So many manufactured situations designed to create action. For instance, when a frightened horse ran away, there was a fear that the horse would disappear into the mountains (huh? Has she never heard that if you give a horse its head, it will take you back home?). And other instances where horses and their people were wrongly portrayed.
Worst of all was that this book had a contrived, inauthentic heart. This is the first time I have ever said this about a book but I really would like my money back.
A very tiresome, overrated, grinding piece of work.
April 3, 2023
2.5 stars
An older book helping me meet a challenge. Not popular by Goodreads reviews.
Was an ok read for me - nothing special. Young girl coming of age and experimenting with sex - both with a boy her age and then later with an adult male. Sent away from home to a riding camp for being involved with hurting her cousin.
I really did not like the way that the story was completed. It was a combination of the accident that got her sent to the riding camp and her return home after one year away. Each scenario came in paragraphs - one after the other - so a bit confusing as to what time frame you were reading about.
An older book helping me meet a challenge. Not popular by Goodreads reviews.
Was an ok read for me - nothing special. Young girl coming of age and experimenting with sex - both with a boy her age and then later with an adult male. Sent away from home to a riding camp for being involved with hurting her cousin.
I really did not like the way that the story was completed. It was a combination of the accident that got her sent to the riding camp and her return home after one year away. Each scenario came in paragraphs - one after the other - so a bit confusing as to what time frame you were reading about.
July 13, 2025
“I was a girl, I learned, who got what she wanted, but not without sadness, not without cutting a swath of destruction so wide it consumed my family. I almost fell into it, with them. I almost lost myself.”
― Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
This book is about Thea Atwell who is sent away from her family as a result of a scandal that she was involved in. She winds up, of coarse at The Yonahlossee riding camp for girls. This is her story.
I really wanted to love this novel. I adore Historical fiction and I adore horses. Should have been a good read. But it wasn't.
Part of the issue for me, is that I could not stand Thea, the main character. Like so many other reviewers said, she was a tough one to like. I do not always have to like my characters to get into a story. But I just did not care for reading about her. And after awhile, I ran out of patience. I did read the whole book but it took awhile and I simply could not get over what a destructive force she was. And I pride myself on not judging. However in this case it was pretty impossible.
The horses did not feature as much as I thought they would. And there was a joylessness about the book that made it extremely difficult to enjoy.
END SPOILER:
I also did not like how, at the end, Thea's fate was summed up in about a minute. I really could not get into this and the ending left me cold. At the end of the day, though it was well written, this just was not the right book for me.
― Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
This book is about Thea Atwell who is sent away from her family as a result of a scandal that she was involved in. She winds up, of coarse at The Yonahlossee riding camp for girls. This is her story.
I really wanted to love this novel. I adore Historical fiction and I adore horses. Should have been a good read. But it wasn't.
Part of the issue for me, is that I could not stand Thea, the main character. Like so many other reviewers said, she was a tough one to like. I do not always have to like my characters to get into a story. But I just did not care for reading about her. And after awhile, I ran out of patience. I did read the whole book but it took awhile and I simply could not get over what a destructive force she was. And I pride myself on not judging. However in this case it was pretty impossible.
The horses did not feature as much as I thought they would. And there was a joylessness about the book that made it extremely difficult to enjoy.
END SPOILER:
I also did not like how, at the end, Thea's fate was summed up in about a minute. I really could not get into this and the ending left me cold. At the end of the day, though it was well written, this just was not the right book for me.
July 20, 2013
I could not put this book down. I started it on a plane ride on our way to vacation and even after getting to our beautiful resort, I still kept reaching for it every second that I could.
It was a beautifully written coming-of-age story that is heartbreaking and empowering at the same time. Although there is some mystery about why Thea is forced to go to the camp, the author provides enough clues that I got the general idea and was able to enjoy the novel, without rushing to get to the flashbacks so I could "figure it out" as I often do (which of course ruins the whole point of reading a book in the first place!)
When I finished it---mere moments before our friends arrived to join us and I wouldn't have had time to read---I honestly felt like starting it all over again. And, despite how much fun I was having, Thea's story continued to stay with me throughout the week, haunting me as if she were a real person. It's been a long time since I felt like this about a book; I wholly and thoroughly recommend it.
It was a beautifully written coming-of-age story that is heartbreaking and empowering at the same time. Although there is some mystery about why Thea is forced to go to the camp, the author provides enough clues that I got the general idea and was able to enjoy the novel, without rushing to get to the flashbacks so I could "figure it out" as I often do (which of course ruins the whole point of reading a book in the first place!)
When I finished it---mere moments before our friends arrived to join us and I wouldn't have had time to read---I honestly felt like starting it all over again. And, despite how much fun I was having, Thea's story continued to stay with me throughout the week, haunting me as if she were a real person. It's been a long time since I felt like this about a book; I wholly and thoroughly recommend it.
June 9, 2013
I am one who likes to gulp down a book in a night or two, but I stretched this one out for nearly a week so that I could savor the lush, melancholy atmosphere of this novel. This book is not a romance, nor is it a book with a particularly sympathetic protagonist. However, to me, those things made it both more unique and more real. Thea, the narrator, does not always make good choices, do things for the right reasons, or get along with the authority figures in her life. Although Thea's situation in the book is connected to its historical context and rather scandalous / tragic, I think that Thea's emotions are true to what many people experience in their growing up years. The author captured Thea's feelings of loss, regret, self-awareness, guilt, and invincibility in such an honest way. This book will stay with me for a long time.
April 12, 2016
What makes a bestseller? If this book was deservedly one, then I know why I'm not an agent or a publisher. I thought this book was dreadful. I won't even be passing it on to a friend. It's that bad. I found it maudlin, overwrought, and so slow moving that I felt as if I were slogging through a Florida swamp. There is not one character with whom I could empathize. Sexy? Maybe it was, but in such a creepy, repulsive way that it was difficult to read. There's a whole lot of equestrian stuff going on to which I cannot relate, but even the horses were dull and sad. Why did I keep reading? Because it was a "best seller" with some very positive reviews, so I kept expecting it to get better, but it never did. I just saw a promo for another book by this author. Rest assured, I will not be wasting any time reading it. Total disappointment.
February 10, 2013
There are two words to describe this book: Slow Burn.
I have a very important piece of advice to give readers when it comes to this book. Clear your schedule. Not because it’s a fast-paced, heart-pounding read, but because it’s one that needs total attention. If you jump back and forth between Yonahlossee and real life, you’ll lose the true beauty of the book, which lies heavily in the characters and the subtle changes of self and scene.
Fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell has been sent to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls because of a terrible tragedy that struck her family which, we learn, was her doing. Thea has led an unusually sheltered life for a girl her age. She and her twin brother Sam have only ever really known their immediate family. Living in Florida, on a citrus farm with their parents, they’ve never had much exposure to other children and society. Home-schooled and content with their nuclear lives, the world outside is a mystery. The only outside friend they’ve ever had is their cousin, George. When Thea is sent to Yonahlossee, she’s faced with the heartbreak of being sent away by her family, the confusion of living with other girls, and the normal hormonal changes that teenagers experience, it’s a whirlwind of emotions. Told from the first person narrative, there is a maturity to the narration which leads readers to believe a much older Thea Atwell is looking back upon her years and telling her story. The narration jumps back and forth between Thea’s memories of her childhood, leading up to the unraveling of her youth, and her experiences at Yonahlossee.
Beautifully, Anton Disclafani orchestrates all these situations with a quiet grace and clarity. It’s not a plot that assaults the senses, but one that invites you to sink deeper into understanding the scandal beneath the surface.
I have a very important piece of advice to give readers when it comes to this book. Clear your schedule. Not because it’s a fast-paced, heart-pounding read, but because it’s one that needs total attention. If you jump back and forth between Yonahlossee and real life, you’ll lose the true beauty of the book, which lies heavily in the characters and the subtle changes of self and scene.
Fifteen-year-old Thea Atwell has been sent to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls because of a terrible tragedy that struck her family which, we learn, was her doing. Thea has led an unusually sheltered life for a girl her age. She and her twin brother Sam have only ever really known their immediate family. Living in Florida, on a citrus farm with their parents, they’ve never had much exposure to other children and society. Home-schooled and content with their nuclear lives, the world outside is a mystery. The only outside friend they’ve ever had is their cousin, George. When Thea is sent to Yonahlossee, she’s faced with the heartbreak of being sent away by her family, the confusion of living with other girls, and the normal hormonal changes that teenagers experience, it’s a whirlwind of emotions. Told from the first person narrative, there is a maturity to the narration which leads readers to believe a much older Thea Atwell is looking back upon her years and telling her story. The narration jumps back and forth between Thea’s memories of her childhood, leading up to the unraveling of her youth, and her experiences at Yonahlossee.
Beautifully, Anton Disclafani orchestrates all these situations with a quiet grace and clarity. It’s not a plot that assaults the senses, but one that invites you to sink deeper into understanding the scandal beneath the surface.
September 14, 2016
Not great, not bad. There is definite tension built in this book, and I will look for other works by this author. I might have liked it better had the subject material been not so hard to handle.
The settings in Florida and also at the riding camp in the mountains were well done, and she did a nice job with the images of young women dressed all in solid white marking their way down various trails. I grew up in Florida, and while this book takes place in a time period that precedes even an old gal like me, the feel and the descriptions were absolutely perfect.
When the transgression that young Thea has committed comes to light, it was pretty shocking. That she was judged in the way that girls always are but boys rarely experience would make a nice point of discussion for a group.
If you have ever been sent to boarding school or attended a high school that is segregated by gender, you may relate to this better than other readers. For those with an equestrian background, this would be a really good read. Im glad I read it, but it could be a little disturbing for the average reader.
The settings in Florida and also at the riding camp in the mountains were well done, and she did a nice job with the images of young women dressed all in solid white marking their way down various trails. I grew up in Florida, and while this book takes place in a time period that precedes even an old gal like me, the feel and the descriptions were absolutely perfect.
When the transgression that young Thea has committed comes to light, it was pretty shocking. That she was judged in the way that girls always are but boys rarely experience would make a nice point of discussion for a group.
If you have ever been sent to boarding school or attended a high school that is segregated by gender, you may relate to this better than other readers. For those with an equestrian background, this would be a really good read. Im glad I read it, but it could be a little disturbing for the average reader.
June 14, 2013
This book was absolutely atrocious, and if I could give a negative rating on here I would. I wouldn't suggest you read this even if you get it for free (like I did). The protagonist is one of the most obnoxious, idiotic, unsympathetic female characters I've read since Bella Swan in Twilight. This plays off of stereotypes as southerners being inbred, and the plot is largely contingent on the protagonist's whining about how hard her life is. Her life is decidedly NOT hard; she's at a riding camp for the daughters of the South's most elite families during the Great Depression, and all of the problems she encounters are 100% her own fault and are mistakes that a 10 year old knows not to make. On top of that, the writing isn't anything remarkable, although I will concede that some of the parts depicting the landscape and the horseback riding were well done. Too bad the entire book is about her being a horny little miscreant instead of her equestrian talents.
August 6, 2013
"You don't think, when you are young, that you will simply fall into your life. But that... is exactly what happens"(254).
Indeed.
You also don't think that you'll simply fall into a book about a young girl breaking some pretty important rules/taboos in Depression-era Florida and heading off to a horse camp, of all things, but that is exactly what happens. I was a little distressed by some of Thea's choices, and I'm not at all sure she and I would be friends in real life; I'm also usually rather averse to "horse girl stories," but somehow this book, and this character, drew me in anyway. DiSclafani offers readers illicit love, twins separated by circumstance, parent-child relationships that just aren't what they seem, complicated families, girls coming of age away from home, boarding school dynamics--all placed in the context of a crumbling economy that feels more familiar than I wish it did.
I didn't want to start my next book when I finished this one, and when I did, I still had Thea's voice in my head. I didn't quite love this book, but it definitely stuck with me.
Indeed.
You also don't think that you'll simply fall into a book about a young girl breaking some pretty important rules/taboos in Depression-era Florida and heading off to a horse camp, of all things, but that is exactly what happens. I was a little distressed by some of Thea's choices, and I'm not at all sure she and I would be friends in real life; I'm also usually rather averse to "horse girl stories," but somehow this book, and this character, drew me in anyway. DiSclafani offers readers illicit love, twins separated by circumstance, parent-child relationships that just aren't what they seem, complicated families, girls coming of age away from home, boarding school dynamics--all placed in the context of a crumbling economy that feels more familiar than I wish it did.
I didn't want to start my next book when I finished this one, and when I did, I still had Thea's voice in my head. I didn't quite love this book, but it definitely stuck with me.
July 24, 2016
SO disappointed by this. It had the potential to be something special, but the author never really went there with the writing. Curtis Sittenfeld (the author of Prep) blurbed this book and called it "sexy." Your definition of sexy FRIGHTENS ME.
Read
August 25, 2016The Yonahlossee Riding Camp is a place where rich young Southern girls are sent away from inappropriate boys, improper sexual urges, and the Great Depression. Fifteen year-old Thea -- who is rich, spoiled, and sneaky -- is fleeing all three. As the book opens, Thea's been banished from her Florida home after an unspecified scandal. There is not much mystery surrounding the nature of this scandal, though the final details are withheld until the last pages of the story.
I usually like flawed characters but Thea was just flat-out unsympathetic. You'd think that in 400 pages, she might change and grow as a character, but she stays spoiled and sneaky and repeats all her past mistakes and then some. She brought to mind that quote from The Great Gatsby as she (I'm paraphrasing here) smashes up things and creatures and retreats back into her money and vast carelessness and lets other people clean up the mess she's made.
Pluses: the writing is good and the time period is an interesting one. One the negative side: the book is very slow paced, there's that whole cliched adolescent girls and horses thing, and the blurb does not reflect the book at all.
As this story seems to be told by Thea in retrospect, I kept wishing that she had a bit more of an analytical nature or some shred of self-awareness. I desperately wished for a little reflection on her part by the end of the book, a belated attempt to make sense of what happened and her part in all of it. (Nope. I got the feeling that grown-up Thea was still stealing other women's husbands.)
So….I guess figuring Thea out is the reader's job: is she a sociopath or just a narcissist? A victim of men or a predator herself? Book groups may enjoy debating these issues.
I usually like flawed characters but Thea was just flat-out unsympathetic. You'd think that in 400 pages, she might change and grow as a character, but she stays spoiled and sneaky and repeats all her past mistakes and then some. She brought to mind that quote from The Great Gatsby as she (I'm paraphrasing here) smashes up things and creatures and retreats back into her money and vast carelessness and lets other people clean up the mess she's made.
Pluses: the writing is good and the time period is an interesting one. One the negative side: the book is very slow paced, there's that whole cliched adolescent girls and horses thing, and the blurb does not reflect the book at all.
As this story seems to be told by Thea in retrospect, I kept wishing that she had a bit more of an analytical nature or some shred of self-awareness. I desperately wished for a little reflection on her part by the end of the book, a belated attempt to make sense of what happened and her part in all of it. (Nope. I got the feeling that grown-up Thea was still stealing other women's husbands.)
So….I guess figuring Thea out is the reader's job: is she a sociopath or just a narcissist? A victim of men or a predator herself? Book groups may enjoy debating these issues.
May 11, 2013
This is a story of a girl who is sent away to a riding camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, partly as punishment for something that happened, and partly because her family is suffering through the Great Depression like most families. The camp is solely for daughters of wealthy families, however, and she quickly finds herself navigating social situations she is not accustomed to, having grown up spending most of her time with her fraternal twin.
I cursed the author through the first half of this book for not telling me what Thea had done, which made me keep reading. It is obvious it is probably something about sex but she withholds the details for a long time. The writing about sexuality is a bit uncomfortable, but only because I think she actually nails that awkward period of sexual awakening that girls go through, where they crave touch and experience and don't fully understand consequences.
A lot of the characters are underdeveloped, which is why I am only giving it three stars. The story is certainly engaging, and the contrast of orange groves with tiny mountain towns is one I have experienced personally, and it did set the tone nicely. The author clearly has a horseriding background, and people who are horsey people would probably enjoy it more for those details.
I cursed the author through the first half of this book for not telling me what Thea had done, which made me keep reading. It is obvious it is probably something about sex but she withholds the details for a long time. The writing about sexuality is a bit uncomfortable, but only because I think she actually nails that awkward period of sexual awakening that girls go through, where they crave touch and experience and don't fully understand consequences.
A lot of the characters are underdeveloped, which is why I am only giving it three stars. The story is certainly engaging, and the contrast of orange groves with tiny mountain towns is one I have experienced personally, and it did set the tone nicely. The author clearly has a horseriding background, and people who are horsey people would probably enjoy it more for those details.
February 3, 2017
Competent--if occasionally precious--writing, a thin plot and an unsympathetic protagonist in a VERY long book--approaching 400 pages. In the 1930s, fifteeen-year-old Thea Atwell is sent off from a privileged and rarefied existence in Florida to an exclusive girls' camp/school in the Carolinas as punishment after a "series of events". Twin brother Sam's fate is to be preferred by his parents and kept behind, though he, too, has been pivotal in his sister's removal from the family home. Thea's banishment is related to her burgeoning sexuality and a serious accident which causes an irreparable rift in her family. However, at camp Thea's sexuality--or shall we say, her nature of being the girl who wants too much--continues to spur her on. Not surprisingly, given the title, there is a great deal to do with horses and riding in this novel--more than a small chore to read if you're not a horse-lover. I think the book could've been cut to half its length. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it. There's something missing--an emotional heart, I'd say. It occurs to me that a far more interesting character than Thea is her mother--who, we learn by the end, has a past of her own. I would've been interested in finding out more about that past.Consider passing on this book or borrow it from the library if you must.
June 25, 2013
It's 1931 and a family tragedy has occurred and 16 year old Thea is banished from her Florida home and sent to an all girl's school in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's angry and hurt. Fortunately she gradually begins to understand her situation better and to find the positive side of her expulsion from her family thanks to the friends and adults that help her cope. Best of all she has her love of horses and riding.
This is a coming of age story and there's a surprise on almost every page. Nothing is as expected. Disclafani always keeps you guessing about the mystery of what exactly has occurred back home but she does it in a way that the mystery isn't the main motivator that keeps you turning the pages...Thea's inner life provides the main impetus but the mystery is a fascinating bonus. Thea is an unusual girl in an unusual situation that turns out to be universal in many ways. There's definitely nothing ordinary in Disclafani's writing. She's a new talent to watch.
This review is based on an advanced readers copy supplied by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given per FTC requirement.)
This is a coming of age story and there's a surprise on almost every page. Nothing is as expected. Disclafani always keeps you guessing about the mystery of what exactly has occurred back home but she does it in a way that the mystery isn't the main motivator that keeps you turning the pages...Thea's inner life provides the main impetus but the mystery is a fascinating bonus. Thea is an unusual girl in an unusual situation that turns out to be universal in many ways. There's definitely nothing ordinary in Disclafani's writing. She's a new talent to watch.
This review is based on an advanced readers copy supplied by the publisher.
(Disclaimer given per FTC requirement.)
November 12, 2013
Spoiler alert: Mr. Rochester is keeping a horrible secret from Jane Eyre, and the longer he delays telling her what it is, the more horrible his secret had better be. After months of anguished sighing, we don’t want to find out that he cheated on his taxes or ripped the tag off his mattress. We want to be appalled.
That’s the challenge Anton DiSclafani sets up in her first novel: A dreadful secret keeps accruing our compound interest, but can the author pay off the debt of suspense when the bill comes due? Trust her — she can. “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” is a 20th-century gothic tale that reads like a lusty cousin of Bronte’s classic.
In the year 1930, Thea Atwell has been banished to a remote boarding school in North Carolina. She’s scared and humiliated, but no one must know her “terrible secret.” Her gossipy new classmates can only guess what would bring a new student to their leafy finishing school mid-summer. (Trouble with a boy?) The headmistress seems to know, but even in private she can’t bring herself to mention it directly. She advises Thea to keep an eye out for “anything unusual, anything . . . bodily.” (Acne? Dandruff?!) Thea will only reveal that she “could not be forgiven.”
For all its overwrought mortification, there’s something delicious about Thea’s ever-escalating, unnameable shame. The nubile students prance around the truth in their leather boots, riding their stallions until the pages feel sweaty. And still Thea keeps teasing us with this burlesque dance of concealment: “I was a nasty girl, with nasty thoughts,” she claims.
But on the contrary, we see a serious, observant young woman. DiSclafani, who teaches creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis, may be under more pressure than Thea. One misstep and all this erotic tension could collapse into prurient melodrama. Fortunately, “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” is no one-trick phony. Even as Thea keeps wetting her lips to tell us the unspeakable truth, we’re lured into more complex and provocative aspects of her story.
Although the narrator recalls this troubled time of her life from many decades later, we experience these shocks and revelations in the cloister of her 15-year-old mind, “half girl, half woman.” We’re caught in the current of those momentous months of 1930 when she came of age. There’s nothing unpleasant about this pricey girls school, but until arriving here, Thea has led a life of almost unimaginable seclusion on her family’s “private utopia” in the Florida wilderness. “I had never been alone with so many girls,” she says. “I almost never saw other children.” Homeschooled by her father, she and her twin brother have lived their entire lives like characters on Prospero’s island. Learning how to make friends, how to behave around boys she’s not related to, how to interact with adults — all the social skills of a normal life compose a crash course for Thea.
And in the distance, we can hear the reverberations of another crash. Between the irrational exuberance of “The Great Gatsby” and the grinding starvation of “The Grapes of Wrath,” DiSclafani presents an eery transitional moment. In these early months, the Great Depression is still just a depression; surely, good times are just around the corner. At Yonahlossee, everything goes on as it always has: The maids draw the baths, and the girls practice their elocution lessons, but periodically a classmate vanishes amid rumors of a family fortune ruined.
What charges this finishing-school story is the clever way DiSclafani has structured the novel. As Thea struggles to find her place at Yonahlossee in “the nuances of hierarchy, the subtleties of position,” she repeatedly flashes back to the febrile weeks before her expulsion from home, where, as her mother used to insist, “Your family is your greatest friend.” There we see vignettes of a proud compound insulated from the outside world, like some larger version of her brother’s carefully maintained terrarium. Somehow, her self-satisfied parents never imagined that anything could infiltrate the clammy atmosphere of their paradise — as though adolescent hormones could be controlled and tended as expertly as the family’s vast orange groves.
This, ultimately, is the novel’s most daring aspect: its winding exploration of adolescent sexuality. (No, Thea doesn’t sleep with her brother — keep guessing.) At Yonahlossee, DiSclafani re-creates the spun-glass fantasy of decorum, complete with corsets and lessons in lady behavior. “We understood that desire was a dangerous thing that needed to be carefully handled,” Thea says, “like a mother’s antique perfume bottle.” There’s wry wit in that simile, but when the wild horses of desire gallop through this novel, they prove to be extraordinarily dangerous.
From one angle — say, above the neck — “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” seems like the most old-fashioned, counterrevolutionary kind a novel. Despite some explicitly lubricated scenes, it’s downright Victorian in its insistence that when a young woman strays outside the bounds of sexual propriety, she ruins herself and those around her. But DiSclafani is a crafty mistress of those pious conventions. Her heroine must confront the old harlot-or-saint choice, but she won’t ultimately accept either role. Here is a young woman coming to understand the varieties of sexual experience — from abuse to delight — without renouncing her desire. “There was always this,” Thea confesses, “the hard kernel of want in my throat. I could not push it away. I did not want to.”
That sounds subversive even today — that a young woman can luxuriate in sexual pleasure, sow destruction, acknowledge the pain of her actions and still conclude that she’s ultimately worth it. Watch out: Men are allowed complicated regrets about moral transgressions, but women rarely get such a pass. Sensing that harsh judgment from home and school and world, Thea concedes, “I’m not a right girl.” But she’s fearless, and she’s riding to win.
That’s the challenge Anton DiSclafani sets up in her first novel: A dreadful secret keeps accruing our compound interest, but can the author pay off the debt of suspense when the bill comes due? Trust her — she can. “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” is a 20th-century gothic tale that reads like a lusty cousin of Bronte’s classic.
In the year 1930, Thea Atwell has been banished to a remote boarding school in North Carolina. She’s scared and humiliated, but no one must know her “terrible secret.” Her gossipy new classmates can only guess what would bring a new student to their leafy finishing school mid-summer. (Trouble with a boy?) The headmistress seems to know, but even in private she can’t bring herself to mention it directly. She advises Thea to keep an eye out for “anything unusual, anything . . . bodily.” (Acne? Dandruff?!) Thea will only reveal that she “could not be forgiven.”
For all its overwrought mortification, there’s something delicious about Thea’s ever-escalating, unnameable shame. The nubile students prance around the truth in their leather boots, riding their stallions until the pages feel sweaty. And still Thea keeps teasing us with this burlesque dance of concealment: “I was a nasty girl, with nasty thoughts,” she claims.
But on the contrary, we see a serious, observant young woman. DiSclafani, who teaches creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis, may be under more pressure than Thea. One misstep and all this erotic tension could collapse into prurient melodrama. Fortunately, “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” is no one-trick phony. Even as Thea keeps wetting her lips to tell us the unspeakable truth, we’re lured into more complex and provocative aspects of her story.
Although the narrator recalls this troubled time of her life from many decades later, we experience these shocks and revelations in the cloister of her 15-year-old mind, “half girl, half woman.” We’re caught in the current of those momentous months of 1930 when she came of age. There’s nothing unpleasant about this pricey girls school, but until arriving here, Thea has led a life of almost unimaginable seclusion on her family’s “private utopia” in the Florida wilderness. “I had never been alone with so many girls,” she says. “I almost never saw other children.” Homeschooled by her father, she and her twin brother have lived their entire lives like characters on Prospero’s island. Learning how to make friends, how to behave around boys she’s not related to, how to interact with adults — all the social skills of a normal life compose a crash course for Thea.
And in the distance, we can hear the reverberations of another crash. Between the irrational exuberance of “The Great Gatsby” and the grinding starvation of “The Grapes of Wrath,” DiSclafani presents an eery transitional moment. In these early months, the Great Depression is still just a depression; surely, good times are just around the corner. At Yonahlossee, everything goes on as it always has: The maids draw the baths, and the girls practice their elocution lessons, but periodically a classmate vanishes amid rumors of a family fortune ruined.
What charges this finishing-school story is the clever way DiSclafani has structured the novel. As Thea struggles to find her place at Yonahlossee in “the nuances of hierarchy, the subtleties of position,” she repeatedly flashes back to the febrile weeks before her expulsion from home, where, as her mother used to insist, “Your family is your greatest friend.” There we see vignettes of a proud compound insulated from the outside world, like some larger version of her brother’s carefully maintained terrarium. Somehow, her self-satisfied parents never imagined that anything could infiltrate the clammy atmosphere of their paradise — as though adolescent hormones could be controlled and tended as expertly as the family’s vast orange groves.
This, ultimately, is the novel’s most daring aspect: its winding exploration of adolescent sexuality. (No, Thea doesn’t sleep with her brother — keep guessing.) At Yonahlossee, DiSclafani re-creates the spun-glass fantasy of decorum, complete with corsets and lessons in lady behavior. “We understood that desire was a dangerous thing that needed to be carefully handled,” Thea says, “like a mother’s antique perfume bottle.” There’s wry wit in that simile, but when the wild horses of desire gallop through this novel, they prove to be extraordinarily dangerous.
From one angle — say, above the neck — “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” seems like the most old-fashioned, counterrevolutionary kind a novel. Despite some explicitly lubricated scenes, it’s downright Victorian in its insistence that when a young woman strays outside the bounds of sexual propriety, she ruins herself and those around her. But DiSclafani is a crafty mistress of those pious conventions. Her heroine must confront the old harlot-or-saint choice, but she won’t ultimately accept either role. Here is a young woman coming to understand the varieties of sexual experience — from abuse to delight — without renouncing her desire. “There was always this,” Thea confesses, “the hard kernel of want in my throat. I could not push it away. I did not want to.”
That sounds subversive even today — that a young woman can luxuriate in sexual pleasure, sow destruction, acknowledge the pain of her actions and still conclude that she’s ultimately worth it. Watch out: Men are allowed complicated regrets about moral transgressions, but women rarely get such a pass. Sensing that harsh judgment from home and school and world, Thea concedes, “I’m not a right girl.” But she’s fearless, and she’s riding to win.
March 30, 2015
I put off writing this review for a little while because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to say. I loved this book, but I don't quite know why - once I picked it up, all I wanted to do was curl up in the sun on a comfy chair and read all day and shut everything else out. But when I think about it, I can understand some of the criticisms I've seen - it was slow. Not a great deal actually happened. Thea was not always the most likeable or relatable protagonist. I think a large part of it is that I am powerless to resist a good coming-of-age story. My boyfriend likes to tease me because he doesn't know what that phrase even means, and whenever he sees it in a film review or on TV, he'll immediately shout out, "Look! A 'coming-of-age' story! You'll love it!"
When I tried to pick out specific quotes to include in this review, I struggled to find any particularly poignant ones - but to me, as I was reading it, the entire novel was poignant. It's just the way DiSclafani wrote it - breathy, dreamy, a little somber. A lot sexy. It's romantic, but it's not...it never made my heart ache. There is no real first love, and although there is tenderness and there are emotions involved, ultimately the relationships are all based primarily on lust.
There is always a sense of things ending in this book. By having it set on the brink of the Great Depression, the girls at Yonahlossee start to feel the effects, but at the same time are removed from them. They own their fancy gowns and lavish jewellery, but it could always be the last dance, the last letter stuffed with money - and some of their days are numbered. The end of prosperity. The end of childhood. (See? Very poignant!)
Thea was wonderfully complex, but I wish Sam had been fleshed out further - he was such a big part of Thea's life, but he mostly only came off as an overgrown kid. I did, however, appreciate some of the details that were given about other secondary characters - Sissy, Leona. And the horses! I have barely ever even approached a horse, but my past, Pony Pals reading self was delighted by the particulars of horseback riding and showmanship.
I love that this was DiSclafani's first novel, because it means I will have so much to look forward to in her future as a writer!
When I tried to pick out specific quotes to include in this review, I struggled to find any particularly poignant ones - but to me, as I was reading it, the entire novel was poignant. It's just the way DiSclafani wrote it - breathy, dreamy, a little somber. A lot sexy. It's romantic, but it's not...it never made my heart ache. There is no real first love, and although there is tenderness and there are emotions involved, ultimately the relationships are all based primarily on lust.
There is always a sense of things ending in this book. By having it set on the brink of the Great Depression, the girls at Yonahlossee start to feel the effects, but at the same time are removed from them. They own their fancy gowns and lavish jewellery, but it could always be the last dance, the last letter stuffed with money - and some of their days are numbered. The end of prosperity. The end of childhood. (See? Very poignant!)
Thea was wonderfully complex, but I wish Sam had been fleshed out further - he was such a big part of Thea's life, but he mostly only came off as an overgrown kid. I did, however, appreciate some of the details that were given about other secondary characters - Sissy, Leona. And the horses! I have barely ever even approached a horse, but my past, Pony Pals reading self was delighted by the particulars of horseback riding and showmanship.
I love that this was DiSclafani's first novel, because it means I will have so much to look forward to in her future as a writer!
September 17, 2020
I read the first 99 pages and skimmed the rest. Thea Atwell is sent from Florida to the title’s North Carolina camp in the summer of 1930 for her bad (i.e., sexual) behaviour. The only thing the privileged 15-year-old loves more than horses is her twin brother, Sam. I kept waiting for the big secret to be . I was reminded of the light writing style and the setting of Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye. I hoped this might be a sultry if slightly trashy summer read, and though that would indeed be an accurate description, it was more of a soap opera than I expected. DiSclafani takes too much time over revealing the central secret and drops too many foreboding hints. Thea is a disappointing character because she doesn’t learn her lesson: . I would be unlikely to try another book by this author. (A clearance book bought at Waterstones Reading with vouchers some years back.)
May 23, 2014
Ms. DiSclafani's Depression-era coming-of-age-but-evidently-too-(ahem)-"adult"-for-YA novel is a delightful read, despite its low GR cume. Lots of DNF- and "I couldn't stand the main character"- reviews (and a curious dearth of male reviewers) helped sway me to give it a try.
The titular "Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls" is a boarding school/horse riding retreat situated in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, attended mostly by Southern girls of privilege to transform them into prim and proper ladies. Our "reviled" protagonist/narrator, 15 year-old Thea Atwell (daughter of a well-to-do rural Florida doctor and his wife) is sent to the camp for an (at first) undisclosed reason; we find out in flash-backs exactly why.
Here's where I depart from the consensus opinion of many fellow Goodreaders: although the likability of a novel's character(s) shouldn't be the defining factor of the book's merit, I contend that Thea (despite her haughty, sometimes whiny demeanor) is indeed likable, at least in the context of her situation. She (and her twin brother Sam) are virtually marooned on a metaphorical island in Florida, in a childhood cut off from normal interaction with peers. Thea's world of naivete drives the narrative; makes her voyage of self-discovery shimmer and resonate. She can't help who she is, but she (in her limited world view) is hell-bent to determine how she'll turn out. It's the lazy reader/reviewer that would dismiss Thea's actions (or Ms. DiSclafani's novel, for that matter) as unlikable, for Thea is simply a product of her environment.
(just for the record, though: I haven't felt so pervy reading (and liking) a book since reading (and liking) Nicholson Baker's homage to Porndom, House of Holes. Let's just say, while The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls is not exactly a salacious bodice-ripper, it's at times ( *cough* ) pretty, um, spicy? Be forewarned.)
June 21, 2013
I work at a bookstore and, after seeing a copy on the shelf, noticed we had an advanced reader's copy in the staffroom. Free book- might as well, right? It started with a great premise- 15-year-old girl in 1930 gets sent to summer camp of horseback riding after family tragedy. But soon it spiraled downhill, to my dismay, as Thea was proven spoiled and unwilling to learn from her mistakes. Perhaps it might have gone better if there was a moral at all. There was again a promise that maybe Thea would learn from her mistake prior to the book's beginning and apply it to her time at Yonahlossee.
Needless to say, she did not.
Not only did she make a very similar mistake, she took it to new levels of "Oh my god, Thea, what the hell were you thinking?", which left me wanting to shake her instead of comfort her, as she expected her friends to do. The only mildly likable character was her twin brother, Sam. While Sam was underdeveloped and two-dimensional, he had a sort of ambition and spark that Thea seemed to love and hate at the same time. I was VERY disappointed with the author's ending for Sam- it was underwhelming and disappointing to say the least. I had dearly wanted success for Sam, and for Thea to learn that not only did she have to live with her mistakes for the rest of her life, but she permanently screwed up her relationship with Sam, whom she claimed to dearly love.
Another aspect I would have liked to see was perhaps Thea discovering a love for horses, rather than arriving at camp with a love of riding. Perhaps if she had grown to love something (something GOOD) at Yonahlossee, she would have had a more well-rounded character.
All in all, Thea was quite the Mary Sue and while the concept seemed to have promise, it was not well executed. Definitely a beachy fluff book for the summer, not anything special that you can't find elsewhere.
Needless to say, she did not.
Not only did she make a very similar mistake, she took it to new levels of "Oh my god, Thea, what the hell were you thinking?", which left me wanting to shake her instead of comfort her, as she expected her friends to do. The only mildly likable character was her twin brother, Sam. While Sam was underdeveloped and two-dimensional, he had a sort of ambition and spark that Thea seemed to love and hate at the same time. I was VERY disappointed with the author's ending for Sam- it was underwhelming and disappointing to say the least. I had dearly wanted success for Sam, and for Thea to learn that not only did she have to live with her mistakes for the rest of her life, but she permanently screwed up her relationship with Sam, whom she claimed to dearly love.
Another aspect I would have liked to see was perhaps Thea discovering a love for horses, rather than arriving at camp with a love of riding. Perhaps if she had grown to love something (something GOOD) at Yonahlossee, she would have had a more well-rounded character.
All in all, Thea was quite the Mary Sue and while the concept seemed to have promise, it was not well executed. Definitely a beachy fluff book for the summer, not anything special that you can't find elsewhere.
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