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2nd out of 70 books
—
60 voters
Dancing in the Shadows of Love
by
Judy Croome (Goodreads Author)
Lulu is different to others. Once, she believed, she had a friend to love her. Then that friend betrayed her and Lulu learned that hate is safer than love. When she begins her new life at the Court of St Jerome in the Old Sea City, she finds people who must fight their personal demons of hatred, ambition and greed. Embraced in St Jerome's fold, Lulu learns to trust again,...more
Paperback, Second Edition, 226 pages
Published
April 20th 2012
by Aztar Press
(first published May 14th 2011)
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I loved this book, its emotionally charged spiritual storyline really haunted me. Without giving the storyline away, it centers around 3 characters Lulu, Jamila and Zahra, living in Africa who each have quite traumatic pasts, which obviously affects the way they view life, love and their maker. The characters try to find true love in their lives, whilst wrestling with their inner demons. Bitterness, trust issues, emotional backlashes and pure hatred are commonplace... then mysterious stranger En...more
DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE was a fascinating look at how the other side of the world looks at their religion (which I'm presuming is Christianity) and the humanity that encompasses. Part other worldly, part time travel, I was taken into an African sub-culture where brutality and the lowest faces of poverty live and how each of the characters escapes.
This is the story of three women, Jamila, Zahra, and Lulu, their lives intertwining, along with their search for love. Its raw emotion kept me...more
This is the story of three women, Jamila, Zahra, and Lulu, their lives intertwining, along with their search for love. Its raw emotion kept me...more
2 likes · like · see review
originally appeared on:Bookshelf Confessions
*I won a free copy of this e-book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway*
the book is sooo good!
I would like also to appreciate the book cover...emphasizing arts..it's wonderful.
what i like most about the book..is that..in every chapter it has an opening statement of a saying or a quote..and the book really has deep meanings about love and life.
the storyline and the characters are very well delivered and developed.. you can actually remember their names and...more
*I won a free copy of this e-book in a LibraryThing Member Giveaway*
the book is sooo good!
I would like also to appreciate the book cover...emphasizing arts..it's wonderful.
what i like most about the book..is that..in every chapter it has an opening statement of a saying or a quote..and the book really has deep meanings about love and life.
the storyline and the characters are very well delivered and developed.. you can actually remember their names and...more
Apr 22, 2012
Mirrani
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
finished-and-reviewed
Once the reader's mind settles in to the three characters and sorts each life, past and current, the book dances you through symbolism and faith to a point where those three characters meet in the shadow of one man, one destiny, one point in their lives where they realize things can change.
Readers are brought through the pains of abuse, the frustrations of the under class not fitting in with the upper, and the sadness of being excluded through prejudice. Along the way they might find a change in...more
Readers are brought through the pains of abuse, the frustrations of the under class not fitting in with the upper, and the sadness of being excluded through prejudice. Along the way they might find a change in...more
It never breaks. The haunting tone of this book, with its aura of simmering emotion, never breaks until the final word. Ten pages into the book, I was already flipping through it trying to find a picture of the author. Who writes like this? Who names their main character Lulu?
This is about three ordinary-but-extraordinary women and their struggle to ride the waves of life. It’s about love, betrayal, lust, trust, and learning to live again. So, yeah, it’s about God.
Dancing in the shadows of love....more
This is about three ordinary-but-extraordinary women and their struggle to ride the waves of life. It’s about love, betrayal, lust, trust, and learning to live again. So, yeah, it’s about God.
Dancing in the shadows of love....more
Judy Croome's novel offers a salutary lesson. It's not the sort of book that would be my first or even my second choice of reading material, yet I found myself engrossed, eager to follow the three central characters, all women, along their different and difficult paths.
The landscape is familiar yet strange. Likewise the Faith at the heart of this novel, summoning and at times repelling Zahra, Lulu and Jamila. The time is as flexible as landscape. It could be the future, yet The Old Man and the S...more
The landscape is familiar yet strange. Likewise the Faith at the heart of this novel, summoning and at times repelling Zahra, Lulu and Jamila. The time is as flexible as landscape. It could be the future, yet The Old Man and the S...more
Three women deal with their own personal demons and their struggles to understand what it really means to love when all hope is gone.
Lulu is an albino, one of the cursed 'pale ones', and subjected to hatred and prejudice where-ever she goes. She has just been released from 10 years in jail for a murder she didn't commit and betrayal is the only kind of emotion other people have ever offered her before now.
Jamila has suffered poverty and cruelty from her peers and yearns to be accepted. She leave...more
Lulu is an albino, one of the cursed 'pale ones', and subjected to hatred and prejudice where-ever she goes. She has just been released from 10 years in jail for a murder she didn't commit and betrayal is the only kind of emotion other people have ever offered her before now.
Jamila has suffered poverty and cruelty from her peers and yearns to be accepted. She leave...more
Search for love drives this powerful story
This novel explores the lives of three very different women who struggle to overcome difficult pasts and discover "love in all its forms." Although set in contemporary South Africa, magical realism frees the story somewhat to explore complex spiritual themes. The author uses symbolism to work through issues that clearly relate to Christianity and Catholicism; however, her use of symbology enables the book to be read as "spiritual fiction" instead of "rel...more
This novel explores the lives of three very different women who struggle to overcome difficult pasts and discover "love in all its forms." Although set in contemporary South Africa, magical realism frees the story somewhat to explore complex spiritual themes. The author uses symbolism to work through issues that clearly relate to Christianity and Catholicism; however, her use of symbology enables the book to be read as "spiritual fiction" instead of "rel...more
It’s worth reading the glossary before reading Judy Croome’s Dancing in the Shadows of Love, as a reminder that the story’s symbols aren’t tied to one language, or one place. Sacred Heart is not what my Catholic background tells me, for all that the Spirit King was nailed to something (a nova, not a cross). At the start of the book it’s unsettling, but perhaps that’s just me, having moved from my own culture, too eager to find a cultural place to stand while reading a book that’s not meant to be...more
DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE by author Judy Croome is a fantastically woven tale of the lives of three women and their journey to find peace within themselves.
Lulu, Jamila and Zahra each have their own secrets from their past. There's the elegant Mrs Grace Templeton to whom Jamila and Zahra aspire to as they search to find their own place as a Templeton wife.
Lulu is an albino who has faced strong prejudices throughout her life, and has been betrayed, but her strength is formidable as she lear...more
Lulu, Jamila and Zahra each have their own secrets from their past. There's the elegant Mrs Grace Templeton to whom Jamila and Zahra aspire to as they search to find their own place as a Templeton wife.
Lulu is an albino who has faced strong prejudices throughout her life, and has been betrayed, but her strength is formidable as she lear...more
Ms Croome writes a breathtaking tale of the lives of three women: their past, their mistakes and their journey to overcome the trials life throw out to reach, if not happiness, then some form of peace each in their own way.
Lulu, Jamila and Zahra each have demons from their past that mold their character and then there's the elegant Grace Templeton to whom both Jamila and Zahra aspire as they search to find their own place as a Templeton wife.
Lulu is my favorite character: an albino who has fac...more
Lulu, Jamila and Zahra each have demons from their past that mold their character and then there's the elegant Grace Templeton to whom both Jamila and Zahra aspire as they search to find their own place as a Templeton wife.
Lulu is my favorite character: an albino who has fac...more
I received this through the GoodReads Giveaway.
I really wanted to love this book. The premise was promising and the blend of items from past and present in another timeline was intriguing.
I think my problem is that I did not care for any of the three main characters. I know that each represents a hard facet of hurt, but they were just so uninspiring and their singularity of purpose did little to cultivate sympathy for them. The early choices they make are understandable even laudable, but as th...more
I really wanted to love this book. The premise was promising and the blend of items from past and present in another timeline was intriguing.
I think my problem is that I did not care for any of the three main characters. I know that each represents a hard facet of hurt, but they were just so uninspiring and their singularity of purpose did little to cultivate sympathy for them. The early choices they make are understandable even laudable, but as th...more
Generally I stay to lighter reads, things explode, people die, spies are caught, the bad guy gets his in the end, that kind of stuff. When I received this novel, I was on the fence about it. Was it my thing? Could I groove on her universe? The answer is YES, I did and I am a better person for taking the time to have this author expand my mind and my soul. If you are looking for a read that is going to make you question the core of your being, what life is about, perspective, forgiveness, seeing...more
This is an emotionally powerful book and the reader has to be prepared to allow the author to expand his/her knowledge of forgiveness. Jamila, Zahra, and Lulu all have complicated, unhappy pasts-Lulu is an albino and Jamila and Zahra lived in poverty and abuse. The author does an excellent job of developing these characters and helping the reader to understand them and think of them as friends. The reader will be rooting for these three throughout the novel. Lulu needs to learn to let go of her...more
Ms. Croome writes in a profoundly moving way. The characters in this book are finely drawn, allowing the reader to relate to each in a deeply spiritual way. Their lives are bound together in a unique and engaging way, as each tries to work through the pain and emotional baggage of her past, toward a brighter, more hopeful future. At the very heart of this story is the exploration of love in all its forms: platonic love (friendship), physical love (desire), and agape (divine love), and the salvat...more
Jul 27, 2011
Jesse Hanson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-ve-reviewed
What is Love Anyway?
Judy Croome's spiritual fiction work, Dancing in the Shadows of Love is a fine example of how fiction can be an attractive medium for conveying an intended message. "The driving motivation of my characters is the search for love in all its forms."
Set in southern Africa, Judy has created a spiritual enclave—the Court of St Jerome—that proves to be the point of convergence of the principal characters, three of whom are women of diversely troubled backgrounds. All three are ind...more
Judy Croome's spiritual fiction work, Dancing in the Shadows of Love is a fine example of how fiction can be an attractive medium for conveying an intended message. "The driving motivation of my characters is the search for love in all its forms."
Set in southern Africa, Judy has created a spiritual enclave—the Court of St Jerome—that proves to be the point of convergence of the principal characters, three of whom are women of diversely troubled backgrounds. All three are ind...more
A goodreads winner.
What will the future look like? What will it sound like? What will capture our hearts and imaginations? Judy Croome's interpretation of the future is a little "outside the box". It is futuristic but not too much so that you get bogged down with unfamiliar details. There is a spiritual element that could be considered a marriage of Catholicism and modern spirituality, whatever that means, but it works for this book. Some readers might be put off by the spiritual elements but th...more
What will the future look like? What will it sound like? What will capture our hearts and imaginations? Judy Croome's interpretation of the future is a little "outside the box". It is futuristic but not too much so that you get bogged down with unfamiliar details. There is a spiritual element that could be considered a marriage of Catholicism and modern spirituality, whatever that means, but it works for this book. Some readers might be put off by the spiritual elements but th...more
Others have called this book spiritual and I suppose it is that. It's a bit too spiritual and religious for my own personal taste. It's well written, no complaints there but just not my sort of thing.
It's a story about three women, all of whom have had early lives that ranged from humiliating to downright abusive. All of them have reacted in different ways, rage, cold indifference or denial. Two of them have rejected the Spirit King, one has clung to her belief in order to bury her past indiscr...more
It's a story about three women, all of whom have had early lives that ranged from humiliating to downright abusive. All of them have reacted in different ways, rage, cold indifference or denial. Two of them have rejected the Spirit King, one has clung to her belief in order to bury her past indiscr...more
A beautifully written, lyrical book. I can pick it up at any point and find paragraphs that just amaze me with the writing. The book follows three women in their search for love, three broken women who seek healing and redemption and in the process their paths cross. I got drawn into these characters and really wanted more of each of them! Lulu and Zahra were my favorite. I like how the author goes deep into dark places and doesn't shy away from the reality of experience that made these women wh...more
*I won this in a Goodreads giveaway*
Dancing in the Shadows of Love is a cleverly written story that follows the lives of three inspiring women; Lulu, Jamila and Zahra, as they try to overcome their past troubles and become at peace in their own skins and with the not so friendly world around them. It touches upon issues such as poverty, prejudice, war etc and how ultimately love can triumph over these evils. I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this at first but I was pleasantly surprised b...more
Dancing in the Shadows of Love is a cleverly written story that follows the lives of three inspiring women; Lulu, Jamila and Zahra, as they try to overcome their past troubles and become at peace in their own skins and with the not so friendly world around them. It touches upon issues such as poverty, prejudice, war etc and how ultimately love can triumph over these evils. I wasn't sure whether I was going to like this at first but I was pleasantly surprised b...more
This book made me cry! Reading this you get to spend time with three women that have such strength it's almost amazing. Lulu is a woman that has been kicked down so hard she has no hope of ever regaining the trust she has lost in humanity until she meets two women that turn her life around. This story is simply wonderful and touching. I would definitely recommend this book!
Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud / http://www.greatmindsliterarycommunit...
Kitty Bullard / Great Minds Think Aloud / http://www.greatmindsliterarycommunit...
Dancing in the Shadows of Love tells the story of 3 women whose lives eventually intersect. Lulu is an albino orphan who has lived her entire life as an outcast. Zahra grew up with a beggar for a father and is determined to leave behind her troubled past. Jamila has desired a particular man since the day many years ago when she lost her innocence to him. All 3 of these women must discover their own definition of love as it relates to their faith in the Spirit King, and each of them must also lea...more
A story about 3 women with difficult pasts whose paths cross. They all are working towards having a better life and finding a way to deal with their mistakes. This is a story that deals with forgiveness, love, pain, and loss.
My thoughts:
This book was very spiritual. I didn't realize that at first, but slowly came to understand the importance of certain characters and their actions. It made the story more compelling, and made me think about why Lulu, Jamila and Zahra acted the way they did.
I have...more
My thoughts:
This book was very spiritual. I didn't realize that at first, but slowly came to understand the importance of certain characters and their actions. It made the story more compelling, and made me think about why Lulu, Jamila and Zahra acted the way they did.
I have...more
Judy Croome has written a heart felt book of a story about three different women that o through different obstacles in their lives Lulu Jamila and Zahra all three have come out of horrible things in their lives where they had to learn to love again and trust as well. This book is a heart felt book that tells three different stories and how they effect each other. Having the glossary of the words used throughout the book was a great help. This is not a story that can be plain out explined it is a...more
This is a book in a genre that I normally wouldn't read (sort of spiritual literary fiction), but I had won it in a give-away from the author herself and so I decided to read it. And I am really happy I did, because it was a nice story, or rather three stories intertwined about three women struggling with themselves, their identity, their faith and love. I liked Lulu, an albino woman, who tries to hold feelings off in order to not get hurt, the best.
Thank you Judy for this pleasant and interesti...more
Thank you Judy for this pleasant and interesti...more
Dancing in the Shadows of Love is the kind of book that makes me wish I knew how to write a better review. I’m simply overwhelmed. Judy Croome has written a book that’s gorgeous, brilliant, heart-breaking, uplifting, empowering … and more!
Although the story takes place in a purposely undefined place and time, the characters are painfully real. The story follows three women, each with a damaged soul, as they yearn to be loved, but first they need to define love and, in order to do that, they must...more
Although the story takes place in a purposely undefined place and time, the characters are painfully real. The story follows three women, each with a damaged soul, as they yearn to be loved, but first they need to define love and, in order to do that, they must...more
Dancing in the Shadows of Love is what you expect a book from Oprah's now defunct book club to be like. It is brilliantly written, giving voices to three women and their elegant stories of trials and errors that we all make in life and yet still come through it all. I don't want to give the story away because you MUST read this book. It is a keeper!
This got me confused. I just don't get this story. Don't get me wrong, it was beautifully written but words are meaningless if it does not convey what it is supposed to impart. Who the hell is Enoch? Is he a magical creature? Is he a prophet? Is he liken to the Spirit King? It left us with no explanation. How about the war? Everyone dies in it, why is there a war in the first place?
This book just left me dizzy.
This book just left me dizzy.
I really liked this book. It was a very deep mind grabbing novel. Its a shame it was so short. The author picked Quotes that went along with each chapter. Somthing I always have liked, it gives you somthing els to look at and think about. this was worth the read. Thank you goodreads giveaway!!
This is a pre-release book that I won in a giveaway contest. I liked reading about the characters and their journeys through youth and adulthood. But I kept confusing the characters, especially since the author goes from the past to the present and back again. I also hated the font size.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| READER'S FAVOURITE QUOTES from Dancing in the Shadows of Love | 3 | 4 | Dec 17, 2012 08:49pm | |
| Goodreads Librari...: Making second edition preferred edition | 3 | 166 | May 02, 2012 12:09pm |
Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy has numerous other short stories and poems published in journals and anthologies, both internationally and in South Africa. Some of Judy's short stories can be read free on-line in places as diverse as The Huffington Post's "Featured Fifty Fiction" series, and the Uni...more
More about Judy Croome...
Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy has numerous other short stories and poems published in journals and anthologies, both internationally and in South Africa. Some of Judy's short stories can be read free on-line in places as diverse as The Huffington Post's "Featured Fifty Fiction" series, and the Uni...more
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“How easy it is to be bitter or angry; that's when you're at your weakest! But when you choose to be kind, to forget your hurt, that's when you find within the greatest strength of all.”
—
4 people liked it
“Only later-looking back through the years-do we come to realise those ordinary choices are often the critical turning point in our destiny.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
Nov 20, 2011 11:15am