Dear friends. I'm a keen balletomane and adore books about ballet, both fiction and non-fiction. My specialist subject for Mastermind would be Vaslav Nijinsky (my collection, below!).
Consequently I was thrilled to dive into the wonderful new book, City of Night Birds, by Juhea Kim. It's the spectacular and epic fictional account of one woman's determination to dominate the world of ballet. Today is my stop on the blog tour.
Publisher's Description
Prima ballerina Natalia Leonova was once celebrated across the world, her signature bravura in demand on stages from St Petersburg to Paris and New York. But at the peak of her career, a devastating accident forces her to retire.
Injured and alone, the ghosts of Natalia’s former life begin to resurface: her loving, but difficult mother, her impoverished childhood, the friendships destroyed by her single-minded ambition. Above all, she remembers the two gifted dancers, Dmitri and Alexander, who were responsible for her soaring highs, her darkest hours and, ultimately, her downfall. When Dmitri resurfaces with a tantalising offer for Natalia to make a comeback in her signature role of Giselle, she must decide whether she should risk everything for the chance to dance again.
Painting a captivating portrait of a world in which ruthless determination, romantic desire and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with profound intimacy and breath taking scope.
My Thoughts
I've always loved books about the ballet world and its fierce rivalries and pressures. Often though, the books are a bit one dimensional: they usually focus on a dancer's determination to reach the top at any cost.
While this is a theme in City of Night Birds, the book is much more than that. It's an ambitious and lyrical telling of a dancer's rise from humble beginnings to prima ballerina in three of the top ballet companies of the world.
We get to know and understand Natalia, a fierce, obsessive and somewhat lonely figure.
The story runs in two timelines, the past and the present. In the first half we learn how a prima ballerina's visit to Natalia's mother, a seamstress, leads to her career in ballet. Although she has no training and her mother doesn't support her attempt, she's accepted by a local dance academy because of her phenomenal jumps.
The second half of the book gets political with talk of the Russian war against Ukraine, and the repercussions when a dancer close to Natalie gives controversial views on the subject. Natalia is a complex individual who finds it hard to build intimacy with others.
I loved the deep dive into the world of ballet: the way companies are run, the role of tradition, how the worlds of politics and art can collide, and how dancers study the nuances of choreography and characterisation to try to become the role they are dancing.
It's a long book and so beautifully written it should be savoured slowly. A five star read.
What They're Saying
'Shimmering, seductive characters dance across the pages... Absorbing and passionate.' MENG JIN, author of Self-Portrait with Ghost
'Meticulously researched, brutally frank, and deliciously glamorous, City of Night Birds enraptures as thoroughly as the ballerina at its beating heart.' RACHEL LYON, author of Fruit of the Dead
‘Brilliant…Written in sumptuous prose, Kim’s novel is a feast for the senses.’ KIRKUS starred review
About the Author
Juhea Kim was born in South Korea, raised in Portland, Oregon and now lives in London. She is the author of the novel Beasts of a Little Land, (Oneworld 2021) which has sold over 20,000 copies. It won the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award, Russia’s largest annual prize in literature, and was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She received a BA in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University, and her writing has been published in Granta, The Times Literary Supplement, the Independent, Zyzzyva, Guernica and elsewhere.
Ballet has been a passion all Juhea’s life. She studied ballet from the age of nine and took it up again while writing City of Night Birds.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and the publisher for the digital advance copy in return for an honest review. Get well soon Anne.
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