The Still Point
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Dance Moms meets Little Fires Everywhere in award winning author Tammy Greenwood’s addictive new novel set in the hyper cutthroat world of ballet girls and their mothers as they compete for a prestigious prize…
"The Still Point is a must-read full of love, hope, desire and jealousy – a vivid, compelling and deeply nuanced look at a place where lives are forever shaped and changed.” –Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Just the Nicest Couple
“She had never seen Bea dance like this. Ever sat spellbound as her daughter grew from a little girl into a woman before her eyes…”
Ever, Lindsay, and Josie have ushered their daughters—Bea, Olive, and Savvy—through years of dance classes in their coastal California town. They’ve tended bloodied feet, stitched ribbons to countless pairs of pointe shoes, and in the process, forged friendships that seem to transcend rivalry.
But now Etienne Bernay, enfant terrible of French ballet, has come to their conservatory. Not only will he direct this year’s production of The Nutcracker, but he’s brought along a film crew to document his search for one special student who will receive a full scholarship to the Ballet de Paris Academie. For the girls, this is the chance to fulfill lifelong dreams. For Ever, recently widowed and struggling financially, it may be the only way to keep Bea dancing. And Bea is a truly gifted dancer—poetic and ethereal, breathtaking to watch.
Lindsay, meanwhile, frets that Olive is growing tired of the punishing reality of training, while Josie has no such qualms about Savvy, who is a powerhouse of ambition.
From auditions to casting to rehearsals, the cameras capture the selection process, with its backstabbing and jealousy, disappointment and triumph. But it’s behind the scenes that Bernay’s arrival will yield the most shocking revelations, exposing the secrets and lies at the heart of all three families—and the sacrifices women make for their children, for friendship, and for art.
“Instantly transports you to the cutthroat, brutally competitive, and beautiful world of ballet in this richly-detailed, expertly-plotted, absorbing tale of friendship, motherhood, passion, and dreams, found, lost, and found again.” – Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest
“Fans of Dance Moms and Megan Abbott will love this literary take on the competitive world of elite ballet training. With Tammy Greenwood’s firsthand knowledge of the subject, precise writing and well-drawn characters, The Still Point is an authentic and eloquent rumination on the ways that love—in all its forms—shapes our lives. Parental hopes, marital bonds, youthful passions: What does commitment mean in a life filled with inevitable changes?” – Zoje Stage, USA Today bestselling author of Baby Teeth and Wonderland
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Greenwood (Keeping Lucy) choreographs a gratuitous drama of three child dancers and their mothers as the girls compete for a prestigious ballet scholarship. Beatrice Henderson, Olive Chase, and Savvy Jacobs have trained together for several years at a ballet school in Southern California. On the cusp of their senior year of high school, famous French dancer Etienne Bernay promises one of these budding dancers a scholarship to Ballet de Paris Academie. The selection process, recorded for a documentary film, pits the girls against each other, alienating Beatrice from the other two despite her need for support after her father's death in a surfing accident. Meanwhile, Etienne's presence creates rifts between the mothers, too. During a night at a bar, one of them lets Etienne draw her close on the dance floor, to the distress of another, who later jeers, "When opportunity knocks, you answer, right? Invite it in for a drink and a quick screw?" In many scenes of similarly fraught interactions, Greenwood hammers excessively at the themes of cutthroat competition and desperation. This one doesn't quite make the cut.
