Dancing in the Shadows of Love

by Judy Croome

Lulu, Jamila and Zahra are three ordinary-but-extraordinary women struggling with the complexities and heart-wrenching sorrows of life. They must dive into the shadows of their pasts, where their demons of hatred, ambition and greed lurk. Each yearning to love and be loved, they first need to define what love is and, in order to do that, they must learn to forgive. Along the way, the women each forge a friendship with the mysterious stranger Enoch, their guide for this spiritual journey.

Lyrical and atmospheric, buoyed by touches of magical realism, this haunting story offers hope, peace and love as the three women search for the divine love that will fulfil their hopes and save their souls...if they can recognise the masks of those who seek to lead them astray.

DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE is a story about love and betrayal, lust and trust, and learning to live again.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Magical Realism, Romance, Literary Fiction, Spirituality

225 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2011

About the author

Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa. Judy loves cats, exploring the meaning of life, chocolate, cats, rainy days, ancient churches with their ancient graveyards, cats, meditation, and solitude. Oh, and cats. Judy loves cats (who already appear to have discovered the meaning of life.)

Writing as J A Croome, "The Sand People: a collection of magical realism and other stories" [Aztar Press, 2024] is also available.

Croome's fiction and poetry books "the dust of hope (rune poems)" (Aztar Press, 2021); "Drop by Drop (poems of loss) (Aztar Press, 2020); "a stranger in a strange land" (Aztar Press, 2015); “The Weight of a Feather & Other Stories” (Aztar Press, 2013), “a Lamp at Midday” (Aztar Press, 2012) and “Dancing in the Shadows of Love” (Aztar Press, 2018, 2012, 2011) are available.

Croome co-authored the non-fiction book "Street Smart Taxpayers (Juta Law, 2017) with her late husband Dr. Beric Croome.

Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy’s short stories, poems and articles have appeared in various magazines, anthologies and newspapers, such as The Sunday Times, The Huffington Post (USA) and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Itch Magazine. In 2021 and 2016, Judy was the poetry judge for the Writers2000 (South Africa) annual poetry competition and, in 2021, presented "The Gift of Poetry" to Writers2000 (South Africa).

Join her on Instagram @judy_croome or visit her on www.judycroome.com

Reviews

[Anne Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 turning the pages. Croome writes with a deep understanding of need and loss, as well as redemption and forgiveness.

From the book: "Jamila, child, you don't suffer from what other people do to you. Real suffering comes from what you do to others."

At times I was apalled, others left me weeping for these women and the paths their lives took. Croome is a master story-teller and her words are graceful and appealing. They sucked me in, grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. I could feel the ocean winds blowing through my hair, taste the gritty sand of the desert, and smelled the flowers in the garden. As for the characters, each is so alive and three dimensional, they literally walked off the pages.

For myself, as a romance writer, this book taught me a lot about the path to finding and keeping love. As a reader, this book is one I will remember for a very long time.

I very much look forward to more from Judy Croome.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 Sea is a recent literary success. Unspecified war is an ever-present backdrop. The narrative is everyone's and anyone's.
While the formal language may take this book out of the contemporary realm, the abuses, prejudice and self-deception that so scar the three women are timeless. So is the yearning for redemption, salvation, grace, call it what you will (a strongly symbolic character is named Grace).
Of the three women, the oldest, Zahra, is the most powerfully realised and complex, though not necessarily the most sympathetic.
I didn't know what to expect of this book. Having read it, I think it would be restrictive to place any label on it. Fiction is a two-way affair. A novel is not just the author's story. What the reader gains from it - entertainment, enlightenment? - depends on what the reader brings to it.

[Avry15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 their roles.

the story is about the three women..Lulu, Zahra and Jamilla and their journey to find their place in the world.. it also give us glimpses of their past..so we could really understand the characters.
also it encompasses not just the reality of love but also gives us deep understanding of our own prejudices and relationship toward other people, especially those who are not in our inner circle.
and by the way, it has some insights of the eternal and unselfish love of our Spirit King(High Deity).
highly recommended! :D... i can't wait to read til the end of the story

[Linda Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 learn to forgive. The mysterious Enoch is their guide for this spiritual journey.

Judy Croome’s writing is impeccable and her insight into the soul of man astounding. I believe this book came straight from her heart—and that heart is a large and beautiful one.

If I could, I’d give this book six stars. I’m definitely looking forward to her next one.

[Jinx]

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 Enoch turns up!

The book is beautifully written! Theres only one other book that has haunted me in the way this one did, and that was Captain Correllis Mandelin, but their stories are so far apart! It is certainly one I will be picking up again. It was a pleasure to read as a "First Read" on Goodreads and I really look forward to Judy's next book!

[Kitty Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

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...

[Karen Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review:
Dancing in the Shadows of Love was different from most of the literature that I normally read and review for this blog. What sets this novel apart is that it is not just a novel. It is an allegory. This, combined with some cultural references and usages meant that I took my time reading the story. This is a story that needs to be read and then read again to fully appreciate the many layers that lie within the pages and within the lives of its’ characters, for such is the way with an allegory. It demands thoughtful consideration.
At first glance, this novel is the telling of the story of three women who come from broken backgrounds and how they deal with the brokenness and love. Their handicaps in life were varied. One came from a home where her father was abusive. One had a sexually abusive father. One was an albino child in a parochial school and was abused and rejected by even those that should have reached out to protect. Their stories and their lives cross paths through the years and they come to know each other over time.
Each of the women were very real in their search. Each longed to love and be loved and accepted, but the path that Lulu, Jamila, and Zahra all took while seeking this peace and craving this love and acceptance was varied. Even as others reached out to offer safety, love, and security to each of them throughout their lives, many times they found that it was either not what they truly sought or came with chattel too heavy to bear.
The introduction of a “Christ” like figure into the story was what truly gave it the haunting allegorical flavor. He was not a Messianic figure, but the one that quietly came among the people and was the “True Love” that accepted each of the women with no hidden agendas. Even then, he held first Zahra, and then Jamila, back when they first approached him. They were drawn by his powerful pure love, but He knew they were not ready to receive what He had to offer yet.
Other characters within the novel went out into the world to battle evil and to combat what was bad in the world. Some won, some were lost to the cause, but the battle for good against evil rages on.
In the end, it was how each of the three women found peace and accepted or turned away from the true love that was offered to them that was the story. It is the story of each of us. It is the allegory of life.
A rating of
Interview:

Over the last couple of months, I have had opportunity to visit with Judy Croome about her book. Based on those conversations, I had several questions that she answered that provided a more in-depth picture of this priceless story.

Can you give me a brief synopsis of the story?
I wrote that book “Dancing in the Shadows of Love”, so long ago, I hope I can remember! BTW it was written as part of my thesis for my Master of Arts degree).
Zahra was from a poor family with a sexually abusive father whom she eventually shot to escape the abuse. Jamila was also from a poor family and abused by her father but not sexually. - You might have them mixed up because I deliberately paralleled their stories to a large degree because I was showing how different people react to events of their childhood. (I did.) Ultimately by the end of the book Zahra, despite her snobbish outer self, has taken over her Grace’s role as helping the poor & needy.
Jamila is one of the strays she helps. Jamila however despite her goody, goody appearance has no hesitation in selling Lulu out to achieve her personal goal of social acceptance. So despite their similar childhoods Zahra grows through her suffering into a person transcends it but Jamila sees herself as a victim.

What is the one most important message in your book? What is a message you think a lot of readers "just miss"? And in doing so, really miss out on the beauty between the words?
MY REPLY: “We are all one, with God and with each other.” That’s the point too many readers don’t find between the lines of this story. That, despite our external differences — of nation, race, religion, gender, whatever the difference is – beneath the skin (in our souls) we are all children of God, whatever we perceive or call our God.
This is a novel about regaining faith in a Divine Being, in our God, and realizing that we carry Him inside ourselves – Grace knew that (“Our hearts are one and the same, dear,” she says to Zahra, “despite the unfortunate differences the world imposes.”) and eventually Zahra, and then Lulu learnt that lesson – Jamila, the most overtly “religious” of the women, didn’t learn it.
But as Zahra and Lulu learn, when we find a connection to God within our souls, then no matter how much we have been hurt, no matter how much we’ve been betrayed, we can choose to show compassion (agape, Divine Love) towards others and thus become instruments of Divine Peace, rather than make war all the time (greater war, like the one which killed Zahra’s son and grandson, or small wars like family feuds or fighting with a friend).
No matter how ordinary we are, no matter how impossible a task creating world peace seems, if we all look to God, if we all regain that knowledge that we seem to be losing that God exists in some form or other, we can make a difference in this world. Grace, Zahra and Lulu all made a difference by choosing to change the way they behaved, to rise above their sufferings and understand the other person’s point of view. Jamila could not, she stayed trapped in her perception of herself as a victim of others, and so she ended up betraying Lulu. The novel ends on a hopeful note, though, because through her example of being kind to the very woman who hurt her, Lulu gives Jamila a chance of redemption.
So like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, "If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility." When we’re hurting or angry or betrayed, and we can still find the inner strength to tap into that Divine compassion (God’s Love) within our soul and so disarm our hostility towards the external differences we see in others, then we have made the dream of transcendental love, that Heavenly Peace which passes all understanding, a reality in this world we live in.
Dancing in the Shadows of Love is filled with symbolism. Can you tell us anything about it?
There is extended section on the symbolism of the book on my website. Visit me there. http://dancingintheshadowsoflove.blog... - there are tabs along the top to the other pages.

[Jesse Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 indeed seekers of love, but to find or obtain love, they must first learn what true love is. The lessons are often exquisitely painful; and they are, I think, uniquely feminine lessons.
In truth, Dancing in the Shadows of Love is a very feminine story. At times, I felt somehow embarrassed while reading, as if I was included in conversations/thought processes inappropriate for my male presence in them. In any case, the writing is good: if it is slightly redundant on certain points, it is perhaps so in keeping with the redundancy of the mind, which maddeningly returns to the same issues again and again.
The novel is also one of insistent symbolism. This aspect of the work, I wasn't quite sure if I liked. The symbols are quite clear, for the most part (to my mind they were obvious references to Christianity and Catholicism), but the use of alternate terms, for instance, was perhaps necessary for Croome to convey her own notions of love and spirituality without the constrictions of religious convention (it is not religion fiction). I would perhaps have liked to see her find a way to write directly within the context of Christianity, since it seemed so present anyway, but I'm not harboring any real judgment in that regard. For a first novel, her approach and her execution are very admirable.
Ultimately, each of the three characters learns the lessons she needs to learn. Do they find love, any or all of them? Well I won't say. Is it a love story? Yes. Is it a unique love story? I do think so. It is worth reading. I recommend it to those who are interested in exploring the question: What is love anyway?
As always, I hate using the stars, but I'm giving it four of them. Have to save some room to go up as I expect Judy Croome's writing to get even better.

[Giovanni Gelati · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 things through another ‘s eyes, then you better read this novel; it is that and so much more. The characters are well developed, the plot concise and the movement in their lives will touch you on so many different levels.
Here is what you can expect to find in here:
“In the haunting ‘Dancing in the Shadows of Love,’ three emotionally adrift women fight to heal their fractured worlds. Not everyone can be a hero. Or can they?
After a decade in prison for a murder she did not commit, Lulu begins a new life at the Court of St Jerome in the Old Sea City. An albino, abandoned as a young child at a Holding Camp for unwanted children, she has always been ostracised, for her difference to others makes her an easy victim of prejudice.
Once, she believed, she had a friend to love her. Then that friend betrayed her and Lulu learned that hate is safer than love. But, from Jamila to Granny Zahra, the people of St Jerome’s appear to accept her into their fold. Against a backdrop of never-ending war, the women of the court fight their personal demons: hatred, ambition and greed. As Lulu shares their victories and their losses, she learns to trust again, perhaps even to love.
Nothing, however, is as it seems and Lulu discovers that love does not always wear the face of the one you yearn to call beloved.
Remarkably areligious and boldly atmospheric, buoyed by touches of magical realism, this compelling story explores the sacrifices people make in the pursuit of a love that transcends everyday existence. Lulu’s quest, and that of Jamila and Zahra too, is to find the divine love that will fulfil their hopes and save their souls...if they can recognise the masks of those who seek to lead them astray.”

[Claire Robyns · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 faced strong pejudices throughout her life, who has been betrayed, but her strength is formiddable (although not always blatantly evident) as she learns to trust in human nature again.

Jamila and Zahra have their own childhood demons of severe poverty and abuse to fight as they strive toward a better, more perfect life for themselves.

This book doesn't hold back and doesn't gloss over human nature, these women make mistakes and there's a certain hardness in their character, formed from their past. But I never once lost sympathy with any of them. I loved with them, hurt with them, and shook my head sadly when they walked down the wrong path. The story wraps between the present and past, so we get to grow with Lulu, Jamila and Zahra and the experiences that formed them. I was rooting for each one of them, from the start to the end.

And, of course, there's the deliciously mysterious Enoch, but I'll that for you to find out about for yourself :)

War, love, betrayal, hardship and prejudice has always been and will always be. I love the way this book handles that by being as timeless/placeless as you want. As I read, there were some scenes that I placed within in the comfort of my own world and I others I left undefined - not purposely, of course, just the way my head sorted through as I went along.

I wholeheartedly recommend Dancing in The Shadows of Love and can't wait to see where Ms Croome will take us next.

[Mirrani · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 themselves or find an understanding of someone they love who has been through something that is the same.

As with the three characters being an integral part of the story, I found three elements to be the key pieces that held me to this book: The story is somewhat futuristic, but also modern. It belongs and yet it doesn't belong to so many places in the world. The religion isn't the type that is necessarily what we would recognize, but is inclusive into the lives of the well written characters. Perhaps these elements will bring others on their own journey.

Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it. I also give bonus points for Text To Speech enabling on Kindle format.... but that also wasn't a factor in the above review.

[Nas Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 learns to trust in human nature again.

Jamila and Zahra have their childhood secrets of severe poverty and abuse to fight as they struggle toward an improved, more ideal life for themselves.

This story has well developed characters and the depth to the characters and intense emotions portrayed is simply fantastic and satisfying.

The story moves along a good pace going through these three main characters past and present and we get to know them along their journey.

War, love, betrayal, hardship and prejudice have always been a fact of life and would always be. And by this book you grasp that by being as timeless and as placeless as you want to be.

DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE is a truly magical read and I eagerly await the author, Judy Croome’s next book!

[ILoveBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 own prejudices and trust again while Jamila and Zahra work towards a better life, escaping their past by living well in their futures. The book is fast-paced, but the reader has enough time to comprehend all of the tough subjects addressed. The author does not skate over these issues, they are out in the open. This book is recommended to young adults/adults who enjoy reality fiction.

[Leonie Anderson-steinhauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 salvation each of the characters seek in their own particular spiritual journey. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a touching and thought-provoking story; a story that will resonate in your heart and remain with you long after you've finished reading it. I look forward to reading many more books from this talented new author of literary fiction.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is nothing but fascinating. Told in the voices of the main women characters, it takes the reader to a world many are not privy to. It’s a place where prejudice abounds and a person is avoided just because he or she is different than others.

Full of brutal honesty, the story is not an easy one to read. It makes readers face their own fears and bigotries, while at the same time, coming to terms with the opinions of those who refuse to honestly look inside themselves for the truth.

On the other hand, it’s also a story of hope and coming to terms with what could be perceived as one’s own differences from the norm of mainstream society.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

*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 by how enjoyable it was.

[Nadyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 interesting read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 who they are.

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Tiah]

I am an e-friend of the author, so any stars or review from me would be far too biased. But please see the Q&A I did with her on my blog to see if the book might be for you.
http://tiahbeautement.typepad.com/tra...

[Chioma Iwunze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The characters seemed real. Jamilia and Lulu are my most-memorable characters. But Enoch felt surreal.

Judy Croome is an interesting writer,

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

6th book read in 2012.

Number 65 out of 238 on my all time book list.

Follow the link below to see my video review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tg4Ze...

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dancing in the Shadows of Love

I received this book from Goodreads quite a while ago, and gave it to a friend as a gift as I realized, with my book list at the time, I would never get around to it. However, after she had read it, she practically thrust it back at me and demanded I read it now, it was that good. So…I agreed and promptly put it aside. A few months of constant badgering later, however, I finally decided to read Dancing in the Shadows of Love and…well…I have to say, I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t really love it.

The book centers on the stories and lives of three women: Jamila, Zahra, and Lulu. And, really, I can’t praise them enough. They were beautiful, well though out and just alive characters that you couldn’t help but get invested in them. You wanted them to succeed, no matter how hard their lives got, or what tragedies that had to over come.

They also all had purpose. They weren’t introduced as all being important characters, only to have their individual story glossed over somehow. We got glimpses into each of their pasts, got to see them struggle to find where they fit in the world, and who they fit with. To find love and happiness when it, sometimes, seemed impossible.

And I loved that the characters were so relatable. Maybe we hadn’t gone though what they did, but on a deep, personal level, we were connected. We could feel their struggles and feel their achievements. I really, really loved that sort of writing style.

However, unlike my friend, and perhaps unlike many other readers, I didn’t really feel like it had too much of an effect on my after I had finished it. While a lovely, deep read, it simply didn’t deliver the heart wrenching after punch I had been lead to believe it was going to. Maybe because I went in knowing what to expect, it maybe stopped me from being as moved. Still, I really enjoyed this book and, maybe, after a break and lighter reading, I would come back to it and read it again, to see if there is a change.

So, all in all, 3 out of 5 stars.

Also…dat cover! Amazing!

This and other reviews can be seen on my blog The Forbidden Library.

[Kate Policani · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tales and perspectives of three women intertwine in a story through time. The child Lulu is an abandoned and shunned albino living in a society that considers her cursed. Zahra overcomes her shattered past of abuse, suppressing her victimized inner child to become a proper "Templeton wife" for a rich son of a pharmaceutical empire. But she lives on a precipice of self-control, and always in the shadow of her beloved, charismatic mother-in-law, Grace. Jamila grows up in poverty and shame because of her gambling father. Once she reaches adulthood she flees to Old Sea City to find a better life. There she meets Zahra's grandson and they fall in love.
After a betrayal by her first love and a prison sentence for the crime of another, the adult Lulu meets the young woman Jamila and her mother-in-law-to-be, Zahra. The three women's lives intertwine through their loves and their beliefs. Can the mysterious Enoch help them to release their pain and revive their hearts, or will the betrayals of others throw them into a hell of despair?
Judy weaves Dancing in the Shadows of Love into a tapestry of words. She uses past, present, and future; first person and third person, and different perspectives through different eyes to show the complexity and heart-wrenching sorrow of life. Though her characters know what is right, they can’t always find it, follow it, or surrender to it. Through their successes and failings she displays the many facets of faith and sin.
Her scenery feels like a strange mix of another world and this one, fluctuating between the two in a fascinating mix. Some scenes feel like an ancient barbaric past, and others feel like modern times. I enjoyed her interesting symbolism, and though I didn't always feel I understood each nuance, they created a mystical and emotional feel for the scenes.
This story deserves more than one read just to soak in all the meaning. Bravo to Judy for a beautiful tale! I approve this title for Awesome Indies. http://awesomeindies.net
I received this book from the author for the purposes of an unbiased review.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 belong to one.

Rejected, a freak because of the paleness of her skin, Lulu has learned from childhood to trust no-one. But love demands trust, and love creeps up on her in the orphanage. Meanwhile Jamila is growing up rejected by richer friends in school, and Zahra hides the secret of her own background behind her identity as a rich man’s wife. Three broken loves, betrayed, turning to hardness and mistrust…

“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,” says old Grace Templeton, but no-one’s listening. The mysterious Enoch knows more than he should, but no-one knows who he is. The Spirit King seems unable or unwilling to fulfill his promises. And love, in all its malformed guises, battles with prejudice and its sugared excuses, while the world’s war hides in the eaves.

Dancing in the Shadows of Love weaves a complex spell and carries a beautiful message. Not quite untethered from time and culture, it’s magical realism is down-to-earth and its wounded characters very humanly hurt.



Disclosure: I read this novel as a judge in the multicultural fiction section of the Dan Poynter Global eBook Awards.

[Elle Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 leaves her old life behind to start afresh with a promise to herself to always be kind to those who are also victims at the hands of others.

Zahra has perhaps suffered the most as we discover slowly throughout the book. She has lost all faith and exists only to get herself through the rest of her life with as much dignity as she can.

These three amazing womens' lives eventually cross over and we are taken on an insightful journey of discovery for each of them. The setting is somewhat like today's world but also quite different and the religion is again something we can understand but not quite the same which makes the story even easier to read because it never once delves into the realm of being preachy.

On that point, I was initially worried that this story would be too religious for my tastes but I am pleased to say I was very wrong and this is an utterly compelling read of spiritual depths, exploring the kind of inner love and peace you can find when you let go of hate and the scars that you have lived through in your life.

An outstanding debut and one I found I couldn't wait to pick up again and finish.

[Stefan Emunds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time stands still as the author carries the reader off into the emotional world of three women sharing the same fate. All three are lost in separation, trapped in the walled garden of their personalities, which they erected for various reasons: Zarah was abused by her father, Jamira was traumatized by childhood poverty, and Lulu is an outcast.
With great psychological finesse, the author describes their state of mind: their desires, hopes, unruly passions, and inner demons. I’m reminded of playful and lively facades of baroque buildings.
The book holds invaluable treasures for male readers. Many secrets women hold dear are being disclosed; for example, their helplessness to keep their hearts and passions at bay, who live as separate, unruly persons in their minds and souls. To return the favor to women: read Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther.
For a long time, the author contains herself to describe minds lost in separation. Accordingly, a hunch of doom is always in the air. Beyond the wall lingers a unfriendly world and on the horizon stands an impersonal religion unable to provide solace.
At last, the author leads the reader to the deeper secret of separation: inside their walled garden people have another, small jail, where heart and love are locked up behind iron bars of guilt, secured by complicated defense mechanisms, and tied up by seemingly unbreakable chains made of traumas. Thus, they live, dance, and have their being in the shadow of love. Liberation seems impossible, were it not for a mysterious, ever young, beautiful stranger - the bearer of the secrets of true love.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lee Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. This one kept me uncomfortable the whole time, wishing the three of them would just step out of the shadows into the light. It’s not that the plot is terribly captivating, it’s just that the words are arranged so … artfully? Grippingly? Hauntingly? Now that I’m finished (and after a sleepless night) I confess Croome is a fascinating author, and I’m terrified of the day she hands me another book to review. I know I won’t be able to turn it down.

But what is her book doing on my religion blog? Well, the problem is, an explanation would also be a spoiler. Its value is spiritual, even if its religion is foreign. But don’t worry, her Spirit King and his mysterious representative will overlay nicely atop whatever beliefs you espouse, if you do just a little stretching here and there.

Note to Ms. Croom: Page 165 still holds me spellbound. And I’m a guy.

[PJ Swanwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 "religious fiction," which may be useful for many readers.

The women's stories are difficult, and Croome's writing style of exposes their emotions as raw wounds. One cannot read the book without jolting a nerve or two of one's own. These are well-developed characters, and the reader experiences every plot twist and turn by their sides, understanding their motives if not always approving of their choices.

For a first novel, "Dancing in the Shadows of Love" is very well written, with nuanced character development and solid plotting. Perhaps no one can truly describe what we mean by "love," but Judy Croome has done a fine job of trying.

[Lorretta · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 they grow and continue to make foolish choices, it's hard to feel for them.

I was more interested in Grace and Enoch, and I would have enjoyed viewpoint chapters from them.

The author does bring a wonderful land to life; it was fun to imagine travelling in such a place.

I have spent a few hours dwelling upon why others have scored this so high, but I just feel sort of listless about this story. I even feel a little guilty for not liking it more.

The cover is beautiful, even though I usually don't like live models as covers.