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Book Reviews Title Dancing
Days Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story Ana: a little
girl intently dressing up in her old friend Celia's
jewels...a young woman walking alone to church in
her bridal gown...a loving wife who suffers tragic
loss but survives to travel to Africa and fall in
love...an aging woman who still has an eye for form
and likes to take a risk, ride pillion on a
motorbike, sing in a woodland glade with a handsome
gardener... Ana: who always
depends on life's unexpectedness... When such a woman
at last comes to retire, do we believe for a moment
that her dancing days are over? We
Say Our society is
driven by material possessions and status to such
an extent that most people seem to be unhappy with
life regardless of how high up the social ladder
they may be or how much money they may have. For
most of these people, much of their life is spent
trying to reach the next goal at the expense of
truly living. There are those rare individuals who
have an inexplicable quality that draws others
people to them. Meeting someone who completely
embraces all that life has to offer is not an
everyday occurrence. At times it takes
these special people who love life to remind us
that life is not as bad as we think it is. In Anne
Marie Forrest's novel, Dancing Days, the main
character is such an amazing individual. Dancing
Days is an entertaining and heartwarming chronicle
of one woman's life and her ability to turn tragedy
into triumph. When we are first
introduced to Anastasia or Ana as she is called we
are presented with an only child filled with
energy. Her parents are a morose couple that do not
seem to understand their daughter. As a result of
the distance between Ana and her parents, Ana
spends her childhood sneaking upstairs to visit
Celia, one of the boarders that lives with Ana and
her family. In Celia, Ana discovers an enduring
friendship that stays with her long after Celia
passes away. It is through Celia, that Ana first
discovers her love and penchant for pretty things
and total disregard for conventional propriety.
Despite this potentially disastrous combination,
Ana does not grow up to be a greedy opportunistic
woman. Instead Ana becomes a generous woman who is
more concerned about doing what is right than doing
what is socially acceptable. Initially, the
story is somewhat confusing because the chapters
are dated to correspond with the year of the memory
that Ana is recollecting. As Ana's current
situation unfolds, the reader is given glimpses
into her past that serve to explain Ana's
refreshing outlook on life. What the reader
discovers is a woman who has had wonderful
experiences both tragic and uplifting throughout
her life, and who is now faced with her twilight
years alone. The story that unfolds is an engaging
account of what some may view as a very ordinary
woman faced with extraordinary events. However I
would argue that the events that occur in Ana's
life are not so extraordinary, Ana's reaction to
them is. Forrest does an excellent job portraying a
woman who has led an amazing life despite the
losses that she suffers. I thoroughly enjoyed this
novel and felt that it was uniquely told despite
being a fairly common theme. Forrest created such a
believable and lovable character in Ana that one
cannot help but feel hopeful. This novel is a
wonderful reminder that even though we may make
mistakes or suffer tragic losses, wonderful things
may be waiting just around the corner. Review by: Yumi
Nagasaki-Taylor |
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