The Master's Muse

by Varley O'Connor

""We set our sights on each other almost from the beginning."" So begins "The Master's Muse, "an exquisite, deeply affecting novel about the true love affair between two artistic George Balanchine, the Russian emigre to America who is widely considered the Shakespeare of dance, and his wife and muse, Tanaquil Le Clercq. Copenhagen, 1956: Tanaquil Le Clercq, known as Tanny, is a gorgeous, talented, and spirited young ballerina whose dreams are coming true. She is married to the love of her life, George Balanchine-- the famous mercurial director of New York City Ballet. She dances the best roles in his newest creations, has been featured in fashion magazines and television dramas, socializes with the country's most renowned artists and intellectuals, and has become a star around the world. But one fateful evening, only hours after performing, Tanny falls suddenly and gravely ill; she awakens from a feverous sleep to find that she can no longer move her legs. Tanny is diagnosed with polio and Balanchine quits the ballet to devote himself to caring for his wife. He crafts exercises to help her regain her strength, deepening their partnership and love for each other. But in the ensuing years, after Tanny discovers she will never walk again, their relationship is challenged as she endeavors to create a new identity for herself and George returns to the company, choreographing ballets inspired by the ever-younger, more beautiful and talented dancers. Their marriage is put to the ultimate test as Tanny battles to redefine her dreams and George throws himself into his art. "The Master's Muse "is an evocative imagining of the deep yet complicated love between a smart, beautiful woman and her charismatic, ambitious husband; it is the story of an extraordinary collaboration in art and in life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Book Club, Novels, Historical, Art, Literature

367 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Varley O’Connor’s first novel, Like China, described by the New York Times as “a first novel that soars,” was published by William Morrow in 1991. Her second novel, A Company of Three, about the world of theater and acting, came out from Algonquin Books in 2003. Her third novel, The Cure, was published by the Bellevue Literary Press in 2007. Scribner will release her most recent novel, The Master's Muse, in May 2012.

Her short prose has appeared in Faultline: Journal of Art and Literature, AWP Writer’s Chronicle, Driftwood, Algonkian Magazine, The Sun, and in an anthology, Naming the World and Other Exercises for Creative Writers, edited by Bret Anthony Johnston (Random House, 2008).

After graduating with a BFA in acting from Boston University, O’Connor worked as a stage, film, and television actor before entering the Programs in Writing at the University of California, Irvine. She received her MFA in English with a fiction emphasis in 1989.

She has taught writing and literature at Irvine, Hofstra University, Brooklyn College, Marymount Manhattan College, the North Carolina Writers’ Network, and thrice for the Squaw Valley Community of Writers’ Summer Conference, most recently in August 2007.

In fall 2007 Varley O’Connor joined the faculty at Kent State University, where in addition to undergraduate creative writing, she teaches fiction and creative nonfiction writing in the Northeast Ohio Universities Consortium MFA program.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though it says "A Novel" right on the cover, I somehow missed that fact when I grabbed this book from the library, thinking it was an actual biography of Tanaquil LeClercq, the Balanchine dancer (and his fourth and final wife) who contracted polio in her twenties and was paralyzed for the rest of her life. The book is actually a novelization of her relationship with Balanchine, based on an indeterminate amount of research. Wth? This is what comes of being susceptible, as I am, to nice new hardcovers with photos of ballet dancers on them at the library. It could have been much worse (check back in a bit for my next review, which will be of an icky book obtained due to the same unfortunate proclivity). But at first, the book was kind of appalling.

It began with the imaginings of young LeClercq in love with much older director Balanchine -- barf. LeClercq's affair with Balanchine while he was married to Maria Tallchief felt glib and disrespectful (Maria confides in Tanaquil that she "wasn't sure" when she married him). Inaccuracies added to the awfulness (an apprentice or corps member is not a ballerina, as I learned from the excellent YA novel Bunheads -- j/k I knew that already, bitches). Balanchine's patois was unconvincing (as ascertained from the way lots of people, including Tallchief, imitate him in various interviews).

But the book improved, the novelized Tanaquil became interesting and admirable as she lived with her paralysis and Balanchine's diddling with younger dancers. Some creative liberties were enjoyable (Suzanne Farrell is a baddie and Balanchine's obsession with her embarrassing -- therefore I will read Farrell's autobiography next). Loss was human and painful, particularly the universal sucker-punch of infidelity . By the end, I was glad at least one book about LeClercq exists, even in novelized form. LeClercq was known for guarding her privacy and it seems that whatever nuggets of truth are in this book are as much as the public could find out.

[Mikkee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up off of the library's "Just In" shelf because I was intrigued by the author's approach to taking the true life story of a ballerina stricken with polio and writing it as a memoir but in novel format. O'Connor did it beautifully. A couple of times, I had to check and make sure it was a novel and not a memoir. The writing was in a stream of consciousness style that made me feel I was reading the thoughts of Tanaquil LeClerque.

The story itself is compelling, a young ballerina falls in love with her ballerina master, who creates ballets for her. She travels the world and is a world-known ballerina married to the love of her life, when she falls ill with polio and is paralyzed. Most of the story focuses on her life after.

This book is melancholy, but she develops the story based on the facts of the the real LeClerque's life. The story is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming and shows how a ballerina found in her heart she would always be a dancer.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balanchine and his fifth wife, he in his fifties, she in her early twenties. Although this is about ballet it is also a portrayal of a dancer, inflicted with polio and her valiant struggle to come back. It also show a tender and the supportive side of Balanchine as her tends to her for many years all the while trying to keep his career going and her spirits up. A very interesting book, she actually stays at Roosevelt's Warm Springs, and it was nice to read about a less arrogant Balanchine.

[Colleen Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say I loved this book, but I did love how it made me want to go out and learn more about Balanchine, the ballet, and dancers. It made me think about the relationship between the master and the pupil and what we accept in the name of art. Le Clercq was an amazing individual, who rose to the occasion when she was paralyzed from polio when she was at the height of her dancing career. Quite an inspiration.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I set aside April to read several books with ballet as a theme. With this, my third book, I delve into the world of George Balanchine, the "master" of dancer and famed choreographer of the New York City Ballet. The Master's Muse is actually about his fifth wife, Tanaquil "Tanny" LeClerc, a famed ballerina in her own right, who was discovered and groomed by Balanchine. Author Varley O'Connor thought it would be interesting to present a novel that told LeClerc's story - partly because she was the only Balanchine wife who didn't write a memoir, and partly because she succumbed to polio in 1959, ending her career and changing her relationship with her husband.

I loved the idea of this book and thought O'Connor did a wonderful job researching the life of Ms. LeClerc and George Balanchine. It was reminiscent of The Paris Wife or The Aviator's Wife, interesting but still a bit distant from the main characters. I suppose this is appropriate, given LeClerc's penchant for privacy. I would have liked to know more from the author about what fictional license she took with the story. For instance, she said Carl was invented. I found that disheartening, because that was the one part of this story that truly touched my heart. Still, I'm glad I read this novel, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in these real life people. 3 1/2 stars.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Master's Muse tells the story of ballerina Tanaquil LeClercq and her relationship to George Balanchine, director of the New York City Ballet. Tanaquil is discovered by a scout of Balanchine when she was 11 years old and at that time she began training under Balanchine at his studio. They married in 1952 when she was 23 years old and he was 48. They were married for 13 years before he divorced her because he had fallen in love with another ballerina.

In 1956 Tanquil contracted polio while they were touring Europe and ended up hospitalized in Copenhagen. Although she was only temporarily in an iron lung and regained normal use of much of her upper body, her legs were permanently damaged and she was never able to walk again. Since their shared obsession and talent for ballet played a huge part in their relationship, Tanaquil's polio and resulting physical limitations created a whole new dynamic in their marriage. Tanaquil also had to find a new identity for herself.

Tanaquil was George's 5th wife and even she had entered into an affair with him while he was still married to his 4th wife. Throughout their marriage, he continued to have affairs with other women and eventually divorced her because of his love for another woman. Although Tanaquil distanced herself from him after their divorce, when he became seriously ill, she focused her life around him again.

Although this book is fiction, it is based on fact and the author obviously did a lot of research. It was interesting to me at first but then the stilted writing style became tedious. Some reviewers have doubted the truth of parts of it so I'm not sure how much of it was fact or fiction. I just did not feel drawn into the story.

Sometimes a historical fictional account of someone's life is very interesting to me by the way the author writes it---that was not the case with this novel.

[Anderson McKean · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a spectacular novel! The Master's Muse is as captivating and elegant as the ballerinas who grace its pages. Varley O'Connor has given us an enchanting portrayal of the life and love of two ballet legends - George Balanchine, the brilliant choreographer who shaped the New York City Ballet, and his fifth wife, Tanaquil Le Clercq, the unforgettable ballerina who lost the use of her legs to polio. Their deep love for one another, and for the art of ballet, leaps from each and every page. It is a remarkable story reminding us of our capacity to struggle and survive, to hurt and to heal, to loose and to love.

[Tracy Wilkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was ok - a little hard to follow at times, don't usually have a problem with the whole reminiscing back and forth but at times it was rather random and didn't add anything to the story. Liked the first part of the book the best, coming to terms with the polio and what it meant

[Rhea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the NY Times was hard on this book, so I wanted to see for myself. Uh... yeah they were right. This book made terrible choices in the way they told this story, and turned this mythic tale into a real slog. Skip it, and watch the doc Afternoon of a Faun instead.

[Lois Spivack kaminsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story...true story! Beautiful love!

[EditorialEyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 out of 5. For this and other book reviews, visit EditorialEyes Book Reviews.

~*~

The kinetic world of ballet dancers and the artistic innovation of the 1950s American dance scene are the backdrop of The Master’s Muse, by Varley O’Connor. This novelization of real events is told through the first-person perspective of Tannaquil Le Clercq, prima ballerina of the nascent New York City Ballet, and the fifth wife of superstar choreographer George Balanchine. Tanaquil’s story is not just that of a ballerina, however; in 1956, during a European tour, Tanaquil contracted polio, which resulted in the paralysis of her lower body.

Tanny grew up in the school run by Balanchine, who noticed her prodigious talent early. She is the prototypical “Balanchine dancer,” the right sized head and long legs, the ability to travel and “eat space” on the stage, perfect technique and passion. At what point the artistic relationship turns into love is unclear but it does happen early; Tanny is already in love with Balanchine in her early twenties, when he was still married to his fourth wife, Maria Tallchief. Each of Balanchine’s wives was, at the time of marriage, his principal female dancer. She becomes the fifth Mrs. Balanchine when she is twenty-three and he is forty-eight.

But this is all prologue. The real story opens in Copenhagen, after Tanny and George have been married for several years, and Tanny is already noticing that George’s attention is wandering. Though the marriage is rocky, Tanny is at the peak of her physical and artistic career. She is stunningly beautiful, appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine, and she is sought after by choreographers who create dances for her. In Copenhagen, she thinks she is becoming a bit ill, feeling weak and seeing some swelling in her thigh, but she dances through the pain. The flu, she thinks, until she realises that she can’t move her legs. She was twenty-seven years old.

Admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with polio, the first part of the book concerns Tanny’s battle with the disease. She describes her boredom, fear, and anger, her terror of the iron lung and the immediate ease of breathing she feels when she is placed inside it. She lives for letters from her dear friend and once-lover Jerome Robbins, the famed director and choreographic yin to Balanchine’s yang. Balanchine stays by Tanny’s side throughout her hospitalization, the love that grew between them through movement and dance renewed in Tanny’s stasis.

The second half of the story follows the Balanchines’ lives after Tanny’s recovery in Warm Springs, a polio rehabilitation clinic wherein Tanny and George apply all of their collected experience in physical training to reteaching Tanny’s body to move. While some “traces” of nerve response are enough to allow her to condition her upper body into movement, she never regains the use of her legs, and must spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. We see their marriage through the good times, as they readjust to life without movement: the dinner parties, the summer house, Tanny’s writing projects, the discussions of choreography and the dance world. And we see the marriage disintegrate, as rumours of Balanchine’s dalliances with other dancers abound, ending in his inevitable obsession with a new dancer.

The Master’s Muse follows in the recent trend of books such as Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife, about Ernest Hemingway’s wife Hadley. The narrative choice–to “novelize” a real life, and to tell the story in the first person, is an interesting one, bringing about an immediate authenticity to the narrative but also making for a somewhat unreliable narrator: we know only Tanny’s perspective here, and we see only what she knows or will allow herself to know. She is a proud, reserved character, and is sometimes difficult to connect with. This style of narration also demands rigorous research in order to create the voice and emotions of a real person. O’Connor does a beautiful job in showing the diverse personalities of the 1950s and 1960s dance scene. Balanchine’s enigmatic presence, his strengths and his follies, are rendered in a complex portrait of a difficult, gifted man. Tanny herself is a picture of struggle in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. She never sees herself as a martyr and despises being thought of as “a polio,” refusing to be defined by the disease that ripped away her career.

This is also an excellent presentation of a time in dance history that’s been somewhat gentrified in history. We tend to think of Balanchine as old-school, one of the great choreographers and a standard of many companies’ repertoires, but at the time, he was cutting edge. His long movements, his use of flexed feet and interesting angles of arms and legs, his “storyless” ballets at a time when storybook ballets were the thing, were all groundbreaking. It’s strange to think of the 1950s as the time of “cool,” of artistic reinvention, of Balanchine bringing ballet to the masses and making it hip. As the story sweeps into the 60s and 70s, Balanchine grows older and more sentimental, and artistic trends shift, leaving him dancing with that dangerous partner, obsolescence. this mirrors Tanny’s own fight to remain relevant, and her life choices and the path of her own career post-polio is deeply intriguing.

Tanny’s relationships with her mother and with her father, with Jerry Robbins, and with her female friends, are all three-dimensional. The central relationship of Balanchine and Tanaquil is at the heart of the story, both during their marriage and after it. They love each other to the very end, even after their divorce. Tanny’s love is intense and somewhat irrational, and yet is portrayed sympathetically. They are bound to each other, even as they grow apart. And Balanchine’s womanizing is treated in a fairly forgiving way: he is in love with movement, Tanny observes; the physical, moving female is sensuality to him, and he cannot dissociate his loves from his dances. His adoration of young women is given far more of a pass than if he were, say, a sixtysomething accountant who had a thing for 18-year-old girls.

For those who are interested in the dance world, seeing characters such as Balanchine, Jerry Robbins, Igor Stravinsky, and the dancers of the New York City Ballet come to life is truly magical. This book is a treat for dance lovers, letting us peek inside rehearsals and performances, and the society that is professional dance. One particularly sweet passage refers to the problem with stage moms, apparently creatures who have been around since time immemorial:

Mama Toumanova wore each new pair of Tamara’s slippers herself, tromping about, softening them so her daughter wouldn’t get hurt. Mama stood in the wings and called, “Four pirouettes, Tamara!” Yes, my mother, Edith, came on tour with us far too often and watched every one of my performances, but she wasn’t that bad. She even laughed at the sign on the dressing room door of the corps in New York at City Center, NO MOTHERS ALLOWED.

And yet in spite of all this, there is something of a lack of depth, or analysis, that is perhaps part of the first-person narrative. While authentic, the emotional heart is a bit cold. Perhaps this is because Tanaquil in real life was an intensely private person, and as the main character and narrator of the book, her emotions are often kept in check even as she deals with great difficulty.

Further, I would imagine the insider references to the various real-life characters creates a somewhat inaccessible framework for the casual reader who doesn’t have some preexisting knowledge of dance and its history in the United States. Little explanation is given for who anyone is, or what some of the dance terminology means. There is an assumption of prior knowledge that shuts out the wider audience.

And finally, a small nitpick about the production of the book: I’m not sure why there aren’t any photographs included. Surely images of Tanaquil dancing with Jacques D’Amboise or Arthur Mitchell, with Jerry Robbins or Balanchine himself, perhaps reproductions of her fashion magazine photo shoots, would help contextualize this true-life story.

If you are a ballet fan, this book is absolutely worth the read. The insider’s peek into this major part of American dance history is fascianting, as is the difficult relationship between Tanaquil and George. If you are not a lover of dance, however, this may not be the book for you, lacking the emotional depth and accessibility to make it a truly universal story.

[Sheila Decosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curious about the master, Balanchine, and his remarkable list of five (?) wives, I began to read this book. The story,written remarkably as fiction, but with deep research, centers on the relationship of his ballet ingénue, and later wife, Tanaquil LeClercq, and their world of ballet and music. The contemporary artists of the time including Stravinsky, Jerome Robbins and later Baryshnikov and many others including former wife, Maria Tallchief interweave with the story.
The world is ballet and one lives in it as one reads the book. But perhaps inevitably: for Balanchine at least, his love affair with Tanaquil develops and usurps Maria from her wifedom.
Central to the fictional story and true in real life is a tragedy: Tanaquil contracts polio and looses the use of her legs. Balanchine, a master of motion and technique of the body, works with her body and supports her in body and spirit for many years.
Perhaps, for him, as a revered master in the ballet world, the inevitable happens and Suzanne Farrell captivates Balanchine.
Less the reader think that this event turns the book into a POST column, the Farrell linkage does not develop into the next affair. But the damage is done.
Yet, Tanaquil, furious,dead in spirit and legs, lives on and she and Balanchine cooperate in creation of ballet, mostly in New York City. To reveal the rest, would be a spoiler..
Although I found my interest lagging somewhat with all the nuances of the two lovers' relationships, the great strength of the book is the author's ability to live inside Tanaquil Le Clercq's spirit and also Balanchine's and make them alive to us.
For ballet lovers, the social history of Russian ballet and American ballet recounted in the book would be of great interest.
My iq with computers is low. For the record, I only read this book once though the form indicates twice.

[James Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel really epitomizes the capability of empathetic imagination. Balachine is a god to his dancers, and to Tanny, and yet he is humanized in such a way that we, too, are engaged by him in spite of his womanizing, megalomania, and childishness. I'm not suggesting that we like him. We see the world through his eyes because that is how Tanny chooses to see him. She is the ultimate empathizer.

Varley pulls this off so well because this is Tanny's story. She not only lives with polio, but learns to live for herself both inside and outside of her illness. It is a story of the body fighting with the soul, of finding the individual voice, and the delineation of the conflict of our own mortality and our body's betrayals into the microagressions and major triumphs of lives lived in privilege, yes, but also on very human terms.

Tanny's voice carries this narrative, and the tale told is closer to memoir. The neat trick is that the distance from which this memoir is told is guided the author's instincts for narrative, the amount of research, and structuring of the story in all its conflicts/dramas.

In the end, this is a novel. It is not facts per say, but is composed of facts and imaginings that hit hard, vulnerable truths. Great, great stuff.

[Vicki (MyArmchairAdventures) · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the book clubs I belong to is affiliated with the Kansas City Ballet. This group has their finger on the pulse of all things cultural in KC and I’m over in the corner with only my former ballet Mom knowledge.

We read The Master’s Muse this month which was historical fiction and based on the life of Tanaquil Le Clercq a famous ballerina who contracted polio at the peak of her career. Anyone interested in ballet or George Balanchine would be fascinated with this book. Like all historical fiction based on actual people, I had to remind myself every few pages that most of the conversations in the book were created by the author. Discussing the book last night with former ballerinas who had met or taken a class with Tanny was utterly amazing.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book tremendously as an atmospheric/aesthetic bit of reading but couldn’t bring myself to rate it 5 stars simply because it makes me feel uncomfortable to wonder what the real Tanaquil LeClercq would’ve felt about having her life turned into such a romance novel of a book. I suppose the fact that the major events in the book really took place does lend a lot to its appeal, but also, as I said, makes it an uncomfortable read for those of us who are squeamish about such things. Nevertheless, I can also recommend it to any of my fellow aesthetes who are into old fashioned, real love, real loss, and ballet vibes.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, as a dancer and dance journalist I seemed like the perfect audience. However, the book moved very slowly and the writing often jumped confusingly between present and past. The author definitely takes some creative liberties with her story. For example, there are large embellishments/mischaracterizations of the relationship between Le Clercq and Jerome Robbins. The most bizarre choice O'Connor made was to villanize Suzanne Farrell, who she frequently refers to as "having no technique" and is an 18-year-old girl being harrassed by her obsessive boss in his 60s on the same level as Harvey Weinstein.

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. Based on a real ballerina who had lost the use of her legs when contracting Polio this book flows through her strained marriage to a great choreographer who falls in love with his Prima Ballerina. While he does care for his stricken wife, over time he found a new muse. The whole book just flows over with art, love, desire, strength of heart and acceptance of the stages one goes through in life as all good things eventually come to their endings. The book is moving and full of the love of the art of dance. Very inspirational.

[Charley Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanny, the ballerina is awesome! She is talented, beautiful and is a gracious person that shows when she is kind to all of her husband, George's, women. A story of trials and victories! A beautiful love story that shows acceptance of someone as their true self is what true love is all about. Great read!

[Toreisii · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first heard of Tanaquil La Clercq after watching a documentary on polio so I was intrigued right away when I read the summary on this book's jacket flap and saw that she was the main character. This fictional memoir of the former ballerina was at times less exciting than I expected, but I felt the last section of book was done with honest sensitivity and made it overall, likable.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book that, as others have said, reads like a memoir. O'Connor gives Tanaquil Le Clereq a very distinctive voice and an elegant turn of phrase. The Master's Muse is poignant and thoughtful without becoming overly sentimental.

[Shiela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Believable fiction. Could have been a memoir.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

a novel based on the lif of George Ballenchine's 4th ballerina wife. true events, novelized, written as if narrated by the wife.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A love pieced together through tragedy.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prose of this novel flowed like a ballet. It was realistic, honestly amazing and very memorable. I devoured it!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the premise of this book, but it's poorly written in a stilting style that jumps from this to that randomly. Shame, as it held promise.

[OMalleycat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m puzzled about the O’Connor’s choice to write this as a novel instead of a straight up biography of Tanaquil LeClercq. It’s obvious she’s done all the research. Is the freedom to invent conversations and (possibly) characters so necessary that it’s worth the risk of losing readers’ trust? LeClercq’s life was dramatic enough not to require factionalized frills. My constant questioning of what I was reading distracted me from the story.

[Katherine Gypson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dancers don't last long. Ballet shapes the body into unnatural poses of beauty and exacts a price of stress, injury and endless rehearsals that would challenge even the greatest athelete. A dancer's time is brief, their work all the more transcedent because of its impermanence.

For Tanaquil Le Clercq, the fifth wife of George Balanchine, legendary Russian choregrapher who almost single-handedly shaped the direction of 20th century ballet, this fact became brutally clear all too early. Le Clerq, the prototype for a Balanchine ballerina, was struck down by polio at the age of twenty-seven in 1956.

O'Connor, a four-time novelist whose father suffered from the disease, imagines her way into the mind of the famously private Le Clercq from the moment she contracts polio through her much-publicized divorce from Balanchine, their tenuous reconciliation and on to his death in 1981.

O'Connor does a brilliant job of creating a strong voice for Le Clercq. Although we only see glimpses of her childhood and her courtship with Balanchine in flashbacks, the reader gets a strong sense of Le Clercq's life and how her experiences informed her subsequent choices. I was both disappointed and surprised to see O'Connor ignore Le Clercq's dancing days. It's a brave choice for an author - we meet Le Clercq after she has lost her greatest ability. The decision results in a unique perspective on Le Clercq - we know her only as a cripple and an estranged wife. We see her in her worst moments and only experience her best moments in flashback. This dilutes the brutal impact of polio but it also make Le Clercq more flawed and human.

Muse isn't limited by Le Clercq's perspective. A cast of well-drawn secondary characters make the era of 1950 and 60s dance come alive while their joys and sorrows serve as a background chorus to the story of Le Clercq's life, enhancing her emotions. O'Connor recreates the legendary Balanchine through gesture and detail. The great man remains mysterious in many ways and as inaccessible and baffling to the reader as he was to Le Clercq. But through the accumulation of small gestures and details - frantic, restless movements and a love of Tolstoy's War and Peace - he becomes a real person. At times, the novel is almost too focused on Balanchine to the discredit of Le Clercq who was a strong woman in her own write and built an admirable life of writing and teaching after contracting polio.

Muse remains curiously distant from the world of ballet, never fully explaining why dancers remain so dedicated to this demanding art but it does lay bare the heart of a great dancer and the husband who gave her such joy and pain.
Comment

[Quirky Shauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look at a complicated marriage. How can a woman continue to love a man, despite their divorce, who loves other women? What is it that connects people to each other?

“Pity any outsider who gets involved in marital discord, and Jerry could not know the density, the thickness of marriage. The death of a marriage wouldn’t be as traumatic if is simply died. The process was long and arduous like a real death. Would that all of us just went to sleep and expired, but we have these bodies. And marriages too are made out of matter, are knotty rugged things crammed with bank accounts, furniture, house, and cars and the link of time that bound you into a sort of two-headed creature. In our case there were also the dances and the polio, which seemed to be the problem, or a problem, but was really the best part of us, the nights he sat at my bedside to help me get through. Even his past felt like mine.”

“You’ve been a blessing to me,” [her father] said. “You taught me to love someone more than myself. All men should have children.”

“It’s unfair that Nature, having no regard for the soul, genius & contributions of that man, wreaks a swift & rather specially horrible natural destruction on his body, unconscious of the who which is contained within it.”

“We are creatures locked in our time and culture, tiny units of fractured comprehension. We are impulsive, or we are assured of a thing being safe and only later do we learn that it is not.”

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those books that I should have just stopped reading.

"Copenhagen, 1956: Tanaquil Le Clercq, known as Tanny, is a gorgeous, talented, and spirited young ballerina whose dreams are coming true. She is married to the love of her life, George Balanchine— the famous mercurial director of New York City Ballet. She dances the best roles in his newest creations, has been featured in fashion magazines and television dramas, socializes with the country’s most renowned artists and intellectuals, and has become a star around the world. But one fateful evening, only hours after performing, Tanny falls suddenly and gravely ill; she awakens from a feverous sleep to find that she can no longer move her legs. Tanny is diagnosed with polio and Balanchine quits the ballet to devote himself to caring for his wife. He crafts exercises to help her regain her strength, deepening their partnership and love for each other. But in the ensuing years, after Tanny discovers she will never walk again, their relationship is challenged as she endeavors to create a new identity for herself and George returns to the company, choreographing ballets inspired by the ever-younger, more beautiful and talented dancers. Their marriage is put to the ultimate test as Tanny battles to redefine her dreams and George throws himself into his art."

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, my book club has fallen into a sad pattern of reading biographgies or histroical fiction about women who allow themsleves to be treated badly by famous men. Alternatively, Women Who I Would Not Consider Good Role Models for Other Young Women. This historical fiction is about Tanaquil LeClercq, a ballerina who was paralyzed by polio when she was in her 20s. She was married to George Balanchine, the Russian chorepgrapher who apparently preyed on young ballerinas and could only be faithful to one until the next young thing showed up. Granted, this is fiction, not an official biography, so my impressions on Tanaquil and her life may or may not be related to fact. But as I read the book, I couldn't stop thinking that the polio that ended her dancing career was not nearly as tragic as the utter lack of self-esteem that leads a women to accept anything less than sincere and faithful love and respect from the man she married. Then again, he was married when she met him and started her affair. So could she really complain? If you're into this sort of story, it was fairly well written. But not my cup of tea.