Set in the Southern United States at the height of the Great Depression, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls follows Thea Atwell, a teenage girl sent away from her family to attend the prestigious Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls for reasons that don’t become clear until the end of the novel. This mix of young adult fiction and historical romance work.
The book opens with Thea Atwell being taken to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls after causing her family to fall apart through unknown actions. Despite the fact that Thea is an avid rider and Yonahlossee is a prestigious place, she knows that this is a punishment. The story alternated between Thea’s life at Yonahlossee and flashbacks to her life in Florida where details are gradually revealed. It’s a compelling story and DiSclafani is a vivid and beautiful writer. There were also small parts of the book that were unexpected given the portrayal of Thea but which only served to make her more complex and layered.
The only problem with telling the story this was is that you fall into the same trap that Sarah Water’s did with The Paying Guests. The story is so compelling up to a point. It gets very predictable and it’s hard to keep the reader engaged after providing them with all the details, It feels like DiSclafani struggled a bit with how to end this in a satisfying way and played it safe with Thea. There was so much build up and I loved reading this so much, but sometimes the follow through just isn’t there.
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