Swimming with Horses

December 1, 2018
At just 18 years old, Hilary Anson already has a dark past. The whispers started even before she moved from South Africa to the Canadian countryside?she had done something to be sent away. But 15-year-old Sam Mitchell is completely captivated from the moment he first spots her confidently riding a stallion. It was the spring of 1963, and, before many months had passed, Hilary would move on, leaving a murder mystery behind. Some 30 years later, Sam looks back, with a sense of wonder, on his experiences that summer. He is particularly captivated by the erotic power Hilary has over seemingly all men in her orbit. At the same time, Ross explores Hilary's previous experiences in apartheid-era South Africa, laying bare the tragic story that unfolded due to power imbalances along racial, gender, and economic lines. Set against a bridle-creakingly realistic background of horsemanship, and fueled by the dual mystery of the circumstances surrounding Hilary's departure from South Africa, and then Canada, this is an intriguing coming-of-age novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)