Dancer with Bruised Knees

by Lynne McFall

Forty-year-old Sarah Blight faces a year of crisis in which her relations with her husband sour, her father and mother separate, her brother is arrested for the murder of his third ex-wife, and the death of her grandmother results in the sale of the family farm.

Genres: Fiction

215 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book probably 10 or 12 years ago at a rummage sale or a thrift shop or somewhere, and it's been sitting, forlorn and unread, all this time. Saturday night I pulled it out of a basement bookcase to get to another book, opened it up, read the first sentence, and realized that I *needed to read this book* right away. And so I did, I read it on Sunday, basically all at on gulp, just like that.

It would have gotten five stars, but the ending was a tiny bit sloppy and too quickly sorted out, but not sorted out enough. I feel the author could have taken another 20 pages to work through some of the tangles, perhaps, flesh it out a bit, make it a little more satisfatory. But perhaps that's just me. It all seemed so nicely messy and *real*, and then towards the end it veered into the unreal and drunken-western-gothic trope that authors rely on too much sometimes to end stories that just doesn't make sense and isn't very satisfying after all is said and done.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful and sad and lovely. There are lines in here you need to read six or thirteen times because they are so beautiful. One reviewer called this book "slam-bang" and I think it's spot on. McFall bring a middle-aged character dealing with mental illness to life. Her family is complex and terrible but real, like your neighbors or maybe even your own family. You don't for a second doubt the plot. While I would have liked to see a little less dramatic ending, it still seems fitting and good. It's a quick read and there's a lot to learn about language here.

[joy. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I randomly picked this up at a library book sale and WOW, I am impressed! There are themes of trauma, addiction, codependence, family dysfunction... all things I am drawn to reading about! I agree with one reviewer that the ending tied up a little too cleanly and quickly. It felt like the author was sort of sick of telling the story and just needed to finish it. Otherwise, the story is brilliant, the writing beautiful.

[oreginal ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I set him free to become whatever he is.
I watched him bloom, even in the dark, like a nightflower.”

He said that I should stop reading it as he knows that I'm in my self-sabotaging era.
I did not listen to him. Picked up the book and was glad I read it. So many poignant lines that punched me right in the heart that I had to stop reading and reflect on with life.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but very depressing!

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forty year old Sarah is depressed. She's just lost her eye in a fight and has to deal with her agoraphobic mother, alcoholic father and her brother who's in jail for murdering his wife. This tale of a dysfunctional family has the capacity to make you laugh and cry.

[Vivienne Strauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every bit as good as I remember it being years ago. The hardest parts to read (always for me) are the ones with animal cruelty.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really interesting. Left me with a couple unanswered questions. It was all about her hard life, but yet at some points I couldn't help laughing at the things she did or said.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, the writing was beautiful. A great portrait of a woman.