Dancing Backwards

Another highly enjoyable book by Salley Vickers. Her writing has such a light, almost cosy, touch yet amidst the ordinary things of life and love she deals with hugely complex issues. She writes as someone who is philosophically and theologically aware and there is always a feeling of great hope shining through. I suppose for this book in particular the gentle epiphany for the main character is the (re-)discovery of the importance of grace and mercy in her life.

Violet, recently widowed, is travelling across the Atlantic to seek closure on a relationship she feels went wrong many years before. This is a beautifully written book that flits between her time on the boat and then her late teens/early twenties where she feels things all started to go wrong. She has led a life with children, a loving husband, and wealth but there is a burden of guilt hanging over her due to a betrayal in the past. I found myself quickly drawn into this book and look forward to the next book I read by Salley Vickers.

Dancing backwards is about a woman who feels she has been led by men all her life while she has to dance backwards and in heels. Violet seems a lovely and talented woman who is taking a boat across the Atlantic to New York. This gives the novel a timeless feel to it but mobile phones and emails quickly emerge, telling us we are somewhere near the present day. Violet has her notebooks with her and on the voyage looks back to her youth and her time in Cambridge, living with Edwin, her estranged friend, writing poems and then meeting the bullying Bruno. Violet expects to dislike the ship and the other passengers but finds friends and enjoyment in the dancing and in the sea. This is a quiet and gentle read that is engrossing and enjoyable.

I liked this book about recently widowed Vi who embarks on a cruise from England to New York in order to renew an old acquaintance. The writing is spare and dry and quite funny in places. Vickers does a great job of developing Vi's character through her memories of times past and through current events during the cruise, where Vi meets some interesting people, solves a mystery and even learns to dance.

I really enjoyed this. It was just the kind of calm, but potentially deep book I was in the mood for. I'm particularly intrigued with the way Vickers employs metaphor of dancing backwards (and in high heels ala Ginger Rogers) to depict the life of a woman who always lets men (or really anyone) take the lead. This tendency, which could easily be described as extreme passivity, causes her more difficulty than a more active approach to life would.

Complete review at Shelf Love.

I found this pretty enjoyable. The cruise storyline was nice, but I really found the sections of Vi’s past with Edwin and Bruno to be very fascinating. The ending was alright but I found myself wanting more. Which I suppose just demonstrates Vickers’ amazing writing.

A beautifully written, gentle novel telling the story of Violet, as she travels from London to New York by cruise ship. This is interleaved with a series of retellings of memory, that let us see how her character has developed and how she has been affected by her significant others.