horses – Peaceful Reader

Synopsis:

It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrian boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea once shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm-a world that is now lost.
As she grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, and what they will mean in the grand scheme of her life and her relationship with her family, Thea also finds herself enmeshed in a new order at Yonahlossee. Her eyes opened for the first time to a larger world, she must navigate the politics and competition of friendship as well as her own sexual awakening, and come to an understanding of the kind of person she is-or wants to be. Her experience will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, and her country.

What I liked: The mountain setting is as beautiful as Thea’s look back at her life in Florida and her family stories. I enjoyed learning more about the Depression from this unique viewpoint as a few of the wealthy young ladies were affected and were forced to leave the camp. I enjoyed Thea’s love of horses and riding. Disclafani’s distinction of “bad girls” vs. “boys will be boys” was well played and reflects what still exists today all though probably not AS bad. I enjoyed the twist of how her notion of what was originally meant to be punishment turns out to be her saving grace.

What I didn’t like: Thea was a tough character which made it hard to love her. I can’t say more without revealing important elements of the story that are best kept secret until you pick it up to read it. While she wasn’t easy to like there was much to enjoy in this story.

A sample:

I slipped away to the barn one afternoon, when all the other girls were studying at the Hall. Now instead of bird-watching, botany, and painting we had history, literature, and home economics; math and science didn’t seem to exist in this mountain enclave. We didn’t have much homework, either, or nothing that took very much time. I like literature, unsurprisingly, taught by bland Miss Brooks. She became impassioned, though, when referring to books she loved, and watching her I sometimes thought, isn’t that always the way? A dull girl charmed by a book? (119)

Find her here Anton Disclafani’s website and on twitter.

by Sara Gruen

(2004)

387 pages

I loved Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It was one of those rare books that interested my husband first and he easily talked me into reading it. When we heard Gruen had a new book, Ape House, coming out we thought it would be great fun (??) to read her other titles first.

Riding Lessons, published 2 years before, shows Gruen’s love of horses and riding.

Good Reads Synopsis:

     As a world-class equestrian and Olympic contender, Annemarie Zimmer lived for the thrill of flight atop a strong, graceful animal. Then, at eighteen, a tragic accident destroyed her riding career and Harry, the beautiful horse she cherished.

   Now, twenty years later, Annemarie is coming home to her dying father’s New Hampshire horse farm. Jobless and abandoned, she is bringing her troubled teenage daughter to this place of pain and memory, where ghosts of an unresolved youth still haunt the fields and stables—and where hope lives in the eyes of the handsome, gentle veterinarian Annemarie loved as a girl . . . and in the seductive allure of a trainer with a magic touch.
   But everything will change yet again with one glimpse of a white striped gelding startlingly similar to the one Annemarie lost in another lifetime. And an obsession is born that could shatter her fragile world.

My Thoughts:

Annemarie hasn’t bothered to pay much attention to her life since that long-ago accident. Quickly after her recovery she married, had a child and completed a degree. Still she’s been on hold and it isn’t until her husband announces his affair and desire to leave the marriage that Annemarie takes some kind of action. She runs away to New Hampshire with her daughter, the daughter who is generally mad at her!

She lacks parenting skills-big time-both my husband and I were stunned by many of her choices. She seems spoiled and self-centered and worthy of an epiphany! Thankfully, she does grow by the end of the novel or I wouldn’t be so interested in reading the sequel, Flying Changes. I think actually I liked her daughter, Eva, best. I wouldn’t be getting upset over a tiny unicorn tattoo!! I did enjoy the horse conversation as I’ve wanted a “pony” since I was 12 myself so I lived vicariously through Annemarie’s and Eva’s farm journey.

Random quote:

I pass by Harry’s old stall, or rather, reach it and find myself unable to continue. I haven’t turned my head yet, am still facing the aisle that leads to the arena, but I can tell that Harry is there. His presence is large and voluminous, an electrical cloud that swirls and draws me toward it like a vortex. (39)

It shows Sara Gruen is not a one-hit wonder and she shares her deep passion for animals with us. Hmmm, maybe I want to pre-order Ape House!! This gives me another entry inHomeGirl’s 2010 Library Challenge.

My copy came from the public library but if you are interested…
Think you want to own it-click here.

Tag: horses

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani

Riding Lessons