Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati

Dancing in the Dark is the debut novel of Robyn Bavati, which originally published in Australia but is just making it to North America in 2013. It's the story of Ditty Cohen, a 12-year-old girl who secretly falls in love with ballet, despite being forbidden to even sign up for it by her Haredi (extremely Orthodox Jewish) parents. The beginning of the story takes place five and a half years later, when Ditty's religious and dance worlds collide, before going back to the start again and following the years that lead that point. 

From the moment I saw its haunting cover and read the summary, I was incredibly excited to pick up Dancing in the Dark, because the concept sounded amazing and I have also been wanting to read more books with Jewish characters. However, as soon as I started the book I realized it might not be a great match, as it began with an unnecessary and overly dramatic prologue, ending with "memories flash before my eyes..." – the ellipse is a direct quote from the ARC.

As it continued the story definitely caught my interest. However, because Ditty started at age 12, she read quite young, even when she got older, which meant the end result was more middle grade than young adult to me. Still, she was complex and interesting, especially when it came to her faith. Unfortunately, sometimes other characters' reactions felt simplistic and lacked the nuance I wanted. In one example, despite there being other Jewish kids at Ditty's ballet school, when somebody asks Ditty what she's getting for Christmas and she says nothing because she's Jewish, they laugh and say everyone gets Christmas presents. Ditty might not have Internet or access to TV, but these other kids certainly do, so it felt like a kinda silly reaction, even though the kids are only 12.

Another reason Dancing in the Dark came across quite young was because some conversations seem like they are there just to tell a message or explain why people have certain beliefs rather than being completely organic. Some examples include an argument between Ditty's father and uncle, or when her father discusses with her sister's husband his favourite Talmud passage for the week, and it just happens to be on conflicting values– I realize if it wasn't something relevant it wouldn't be a part of the novel, but I just didn't want it to be quite so obvious.

That said, there were some really interesting discussions about faith, such as between Ditty's cousin Linda and herself.  Maybe I enjoyed those portions more because Ditty was an active participant, rather than a bystander. Like Intentions by Deborah Heiligman which I read last year, Dancing in the Dark, it was clearly written for readers who know nothing about Judaism. As a Jewish individual, that was probably a huge factor in what made it a bit dull or frustrating to read at times.

Additionally, the conflicts tended to resolve really easily. Like when Ditty needs someone else to walk home her younger siblings, suddenly her eight and a half year old sister is old enough to do it– even though Ditty had been the one walking her home, and even though eight seems awfully young for that to me. There are other examples but they are spoilers so I won't mention them.

Finally, time passes really quickly, the novel starts at age twelve and by 160 pages in it's two and a half years later. There are just brief moments to show time passing, and at times I felt like I was missing bits. I also felt like it was hard to really see Ditty getting older, because there wasn't much in between to show her becoming more mature. The quick pace makes it really easy to read, because there's always lots of action, but it means that there isn't a lot of time to connect with characters.

So that was a lot of thoughts. I really focused on the aspects that disappointed me, because I wanted so badly to love Dancing in the Dark and it just didn't quite succeed for me. That said, I do think it would be great for younger readers, like maybe old MG or young YA level, and perhaps it was the cover the swayed me into thinking it would be more mature than it was. I definitely think there needs to be more young adult featuring Jewish characters, and I hadn't read a YA featuring Haredi characters before. I did enjoy Ditty, she was believable and I found her journey exciting and interesting to follow. Overall, Dancing in the Dark is definitely worth picking up if you're looking for some insight into very Orthodox Judaism, and it's a quick-paced, exciting read with an authentic main character, even though it wasn't quite right for me.

Release Date: February 3rd 2013  Pages: 321  Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley  Publisher: Flux  Buy It: Book Depository

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

Release Date: August 14th 2012
Pages: 272
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Random House
Buy It: Book Depository

Rachel thought she was grown up enough to accept that no one is perfect. Her parents argue, her grandmother has been acting strangely, and her best friend doesn't want to talk to her. But none of that could have prepared her for what she overheard in her synagogue's sanctuary. Now Rachel's trust in the people she loves is shattered, and her newfound cynicism leads to reckless rebellion. Her friends and family hardly recognize her, and worse, she can hardly recognize herself.

For a book I was so incredibly excited to read, I had a few issues with Intentions which combined to result in a novel that I enjoyed, but wasn't the earth-shattering amazing that I was hoping for.

One of the ten commandments is not to God's name in vain, so it was off-putting to me that Rachel, as a supposedly religious girl, is constantly doing so. Even within the first few pages– which take place in a synagogue!– she says "Oh God. I need to stop thinking. I need just to BE.", "God it was an awful day", "For God's sake", and later, "oh my God," and "God, I'm such an idiot". In fact, the overuse of the term became grating, as well as annoying because it didn't fit with the character's beliefs. 

I was also confused as to why all the "Jewish" words, like bima and mikvah and kavanah, were in italics. It's not as if there's a glossary at the end of the novel, and Heiligman does a good job of explaining what they mean in context, for readers who might not know. So the italics were jarring and bothersome for me as a reader.

Finally, Rachel seems to fall asleep A LOT. Like on couches, in cars, naps, on the cot at school, in the middle of the floor– she even falls asleep standing at a locker! There's another, really dramatic scene, and in the middle of it she puts her head down on a counter is thinking of falling asleep again until she gets interrupted. I get that sleep can be a way not to deal with things, but honestly, it seemed like every time the author wanted to mark the passing of time, or didn't know how to transition to the next scene, she had Rachel fall asleep. It came across more like a health issue, I kept waiting to learn Rachel was low in iron or suffered from narcolepsy.

Those complaints aside, there was a lot I enjoyed about Intentions. It was refreshing to read a novel about a Jewish teen, as there doesn't seem to be a lot of Jewish YA out there. Rachel also had a sense of humour that I enjoyed. When describing a boy she finds attractive, she says, "he's tall, blond, Nordic-looking. Definitely not Jewish. His ancestors probably murdered my ancestors." There's also an incredibly realistic scene where Rachel is stoned, but doesn't want to admit it, that had me chuckling.

There is a lot of drama and tragedy in Intentions, but mixed in are some touching moments, especially between Rachel and her boyfriend Jake. There is also a lot of reckless, which could also be described as stupidity, moments where I wanted to shake Rachel in the book and tell her not to be so dumb; but I guess that is part of being a teenager.

There are two small portions of the book, one at the very beginning, and one at the very end, which take place ten years later. I didn't think they were necessary, and in fact I didn't like them. As a reader, I don't always need to know everything, and it was weird to go from old, mature Rachel to Rachel as a teen, but without any of the reflection mature Rachel might have had– because this is YA after all, so I don't know what the point was.

Finally, the entire concern of God and Rachel's belief or disbelief, seemed like a throwaway. For such an important issue, if it's going to be addressed, I definitely wanted more out of it than a couple paragraphs of pondering, and then later, a complete reversal of feelings without any explanation whatsoever. 

Overall, Intentions is far from perfect, and I was likely harder on it because I wanted so much out of it, but it had a charming sense of humour as well as some touching scenes that made for an enjoyable book.

Waiting For Robert Capa by Susana Fortes

Waiting For Robert Capa by Susana Fortes

Release Date: September 27th 2011 (Published in Spanish June 2009)
Pages: 208
Format: Advance Reader Copy
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Translator: Adriana V. Lopez
Source: TLC Book Tours
Buy It: Book Depository

A novel of love, war, and art, based on the turbulent real-life romance of legendary photojournalists Gerda Taro and Robert Capa who documented the Spanish Civil War.

Love, war and photography, now those are topics that got me excited for this novel based on true events, but unfortunately they didn't quite add up the way I hoped. The first quarter or so of Waiting For Robert Capa moved slowly, but the language itself was so lovely that even if Fortes wasn't quite catching my interest, I was enjoying the lyricalness of her storytelling. However, once the novelty wore off, I found myself often bored and frustrated with the story. There was a lot of name-dropping, and that included mentions of individuals that while real, aren't incredibly well-known these days and that I regularly had to look up. The annoying part of this was that often names were used when it would have sufficed to say 'the man' or 'the woman' because the individual only appears in one sentence of the entire novel.

By around midway through Waiting For Robert Capa had come to a conclusion: novels about real people aren't quite my thing, as I was having many of the same issues I had earlier this year with The Paris Wife by Paula McLain occur again and perhaps they are a symptom of this type of book? What I am referring to is a lovely but detached writing, so that I never connect to the story. Both books also felt alternatively very slow, or very rushed, depending on which events they lingered on or hurried over. I wonder if I was more familiar with the history behind the these stories I would understand better why the authors did this, but ultimately I found that often things I found most interesting were hardly touched on. In Waiting For Robert Capa this included Gerda's history before coming to France, and Robert's experiences after the war as well as his relationship with his Jewish identity.

Ultimately Waiting For Robert Capa was written with lovely language, but those words told a story that I had difficulty connecting to and which often bored me, however a reader who enjoys novels from the perspectives of real people may find more to appreciate in Fortes' storytelling than I did.

Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant

Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant weaves together three individuals whose lives become entangled in the volatile climate of Israeli society. Yona travels to Israel to try to mend things with her sister, estranged for over ten years, a woman whose life has become the polar opposite of her own. Meanwhile Mark travels back to New York City, the place where he was saved from drugs by his faith, from Jerusalem, to give lectures on the Talmud, trying to ignore the sensation that what he is speaking about isn't what he believes anymore. Finally, Aaron is a college dropout who has a famous writer for a father but can't seem to find a place he belongs so he quits school during his year-abroad and joins an extreme Israeli fringe group. Yona, Mark and Aaron are tied together by the impact faith and Judaism will have on their lives, changing them forever in a moment that can never be undone.

Wherever You Go is the debut novel from Leegant, but it is filled with a wisdom and maturity that is far from amateur. It's an intelligent book, and despite it's slender size- under 300 pages- it is certainly not a light read. The reader is instantly sucked into a rich and vibrant world, beautiful yet violent, three lives teetering on the edge of breaking. Wherever You Go is incredibly powerful, beautiful, well written, and absolutely horrifying at the same time. Two weeks after finishing it I'm still unable to get it out of my mind. The stories it tells are both unique- I've never read anything like it before- and extremely relevant. Leegant has her finger on the pulse of Israeli society and takes the reader into this foreign yet fascinating environment with skill of an insider, unsurprising considering she spends part of her time living in Israel while teaching there.

All the reasons that Wherever You Go is upsetting are the same reasons it is such an important book. Normally when I read a book which follows the narrative of multiple characters I find myself more enchanted by one storyline and impatient for my "favourite" character to return to centre stage. In this case, all three stories are not only absolutely riveting, but definitely distinct from each other as well, three separate voices that at no point become muffled together. I only wished that a little more time had been spent with the characters near the ending; possibly it is my own desire for closure but the conclusion felt slightly rushed. Perhaps being Jewish myself biased me when deciding to pick up Wherever You Go, but regardless of the reader's faith- if any-  the novel offers complex characters as well as a thought-provoking narrative and compelling setting.

My biggest complaint? That Leegant's work isn't more widely available, I had to special order her first book An Hour in Paradise, which is a collection of short stories, from the States. Fortunately, I know it'll be worth the wait. I'll also be certain to pre-order whatever Leegant publishes next and if there's a smile on my face when it arrives it's not because I expect the story to be completely bright and cheerful but because I know that whatever she writes it'll be incredibly beautiful and powerful, just like Wherever You Go is.

Release Date: July 10th, 2010
Pages: 272
Buy the Book
Source:

This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.

Jewish Literature Challenge

 

I am joining this (now defunct it seems) challenge.

What: Reading books by Jewish Authors or about Judaism 

When: December 1st 2010-April 26th 2011

Level: Read at least five books from the following list: 

Completed:

1. Bending Towards the Sun by Leslie Gilbert-Lurie (Review)
2. The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok (Review)
   
3. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Review)
4. An Exclusive Love by Johanna Adorján (Review)
5. History of a Suicide by Jill Bialosky (Review) 
6. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel (Review) 
7. The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia (Review) 

Tentative:

1. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
2. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
3. Annexed by Sharon Dogar *
4. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss * 
5. Have a Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom 
6. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay *
7. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky *
8. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink 
9. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon *
10. The Trial by Franz Kafka
11. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand *
12. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow *
13. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
14. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
15. The Believers by Zoe Heller * 

*Indicates I already own the book

Completed: January 26 2011