Maggie Shipstead

The story is set on the fictional island of Waskeke, off the Connecticut coast. We join Winn Van Meter who is marrying off his eldest daughter, It's a weekend of precise wedding choreography.... getting it "just right". Our Winn is not the "proper gentleman" that he might want society to believe him to be, since we have found him lusting after one of the bridesmaids, feuding with his youngest daughter and pulling his hair out over all the wrong things. Winn is behind the camera through much of the story, and since we have already found him ogling the bridesmaid, it comes as no surprise that he is also smothered in lusts of many kinds. He is also a "social joiner", starting with "Ophidian", an elite ...and also fictional... Harvard club, and he seems willing to happily offer his first born or sell his soul for entry to Waskeke’s Pequod, the exclusive and prestigious golf club. I did think that the name he gave his house was rather clever, the “Proper Dews,” ...but alas, the Pequod was much less impressed than I was:) From the Book: “For three years he had kept a bitter evening vigil on the widow’s walk, staring out at what he could see of the course from the house: . . . that bit of grass was the gateway to a verdant male haven and confessional.” There were too many frequent shifts in point of view, giving the book a dance-like feel. In the first five sentences, the author hinted at the sexual tension that holds out through the three-day span that the story takes place in. We are introduced to the two daughters, a wife with the awful name of Biddy...and then, the threat of adultery is slipped in. Trying to describe it was difficult, but it boils down to a lot of unlikable characters, yet in spite of that, it was their attitudes and outlooks on life that made them complicated and interesting. Winn, as you will expect only minutes after meeting him, is just a pompous social-climbing blowhard. I didn't find anything about him to even slightly like. In a nutshell, the story is about very rich people behaving very, very badly and expecting everyone else to be forgiving. This quote pretty much hits it on the head. Reading Seating Arrangements is like looking into a mirror or peeking through the window, the gin-soaked escapades are difficult to turn away from.” —The Phoenix - Portland, Maine… (more)

I really enjoyed this story about professional ballet and the intricate relationships between principal dancers, their co-workers and their non-ballet friends and family. The story sets its focus on Joan, a dancer in the corps with no hope for advancement, and her unlikely relationship with a Russian star who defects from Russia to dance in New York. Over decades we learn what happens to Joan, her family, and the Russian dancer.

Had I not recently watched a few seasons of reality TV that showed the backstage of a professional ballet company I don't know that I would have really appreciated this story. Knowing what I know about how difficult the life of a ballet dancer is added a great deal of depth to the story for me. I also did some quick googling to determine that the defector and the mysterious Mr. K seem to be representations of Baryshnikov and Balanchine.

The story tended to be dark but I found it all quite enjoyable.… (more)