Book info

• Title Astonish Me
• Author Maggie Shipstead
• Year 2014
• Genre Contemporary

Astonish Me is the irresistible story of Joan, a young American dancer who helps a Soviet ballet star, the great Arslan Rusakov, defect in 1975. A flash of fame and a passionate love affair follow, but Joan knows that, onstage and off, she is destined to remain in the shadows. After her relationship with Arslan sours, Joan decides to quit ballet and make a new life for herself. But as the years pass, Joan comes to understand that ballet isn’t finished with her yet... From the prize-winning author of Seating Arrangements comes an exquisitely written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the demanding world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations.

Thoughts

I was looking for a fiction book about ballet and this one popped up at exactly the right time. It traces the interweaving lives of several ballet dancers, male and female, plus their extended friends and family. The book moves forward through time quite rapidly, but then dips back again and again, so that each time you learn more about events.

I think the big reveal is quite an obvious one for everyone, although there were moments whether I wandered if it wasn’t going to take that route. Of course it did, which only served to add to the drama. It felt like that part was the smallest though, the least important, which is odd given the nature of the secret!

It took a while to grow on me, this book, particularly because the characters aren’t all that sympathetic, especially at the beginning. But I really started to enjoy it, and was then disappointed when it ended!

Rating: 4 / 5