First published 2013
Thea Atwell sits in her family's citrus grove in Florida, knowing her life will never be the same. The fifteen-year-old has played a role in a family tragedy that nobody wants to discuss openly. Her parents ship her off to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, an exclusive equestrian boarding school nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The year is 1930, and the Great Depression casts shadows over everything. At Yonahlossee, Thea encounters a rigid social hierarchy built on money, beauty, and carefully cultivated friendships among Southern debutantes. She struggles to adapt to this new world while grappling with guilt over the events that led to her exile. The school's structured environment contrasts sharply with the freedom she once enjoyed roaming her family's farm with her twin brother. As Thea navigates complicated relationships with her classmates and teachers, she begins to understand how her past actions will shape her future. The story moves between her present life at school and memories of home, gradually revealing the scandalous truth behind her banishment.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, secrets
Setting: Blue Ridge Mountains, Florida
Period: 1930
390 pages · Hardcover · Riverhead Books