Review: Bunheads by Sophie Flack

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet. 
But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah's universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other "bunheads" in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?

Reviews like this are the hardest for me to write. I wanted to love this book – the premise, the blurb, everything about it screamed that it was going to be a book that I would enjoy, and yet I was left severely disappointed.

I think that the first step, the key into the world, Hannah, was my first problem with the book. If I had identified with her, or felt with her then I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more. As it was she came across as completely self-absorbed, to the point that even the reader would struggle to identify with her, never mind any love interests. I get that she is conflicted about her life, and her choices, and maybe it is simply a reflection of what I personally was expecting about this book, but to have almost three hundred pages of a dancer who effectively whinges and gripes about her life as a ballet dancer wasn’t really what I signed up for. I wanted to see some of her love for ballet and for dance come through, and yes there are moments of that but they are so few and far between that it didn’t really count for anything.

None of the characters were fully developed. The girls in her dressing room were all just names and faces, no real thought given into fleshing them out and giving them human arcs. They changed to suit the story, one moment being friends, the next back stabbing and competitive. Again I know this is meant to show the competitive nature of the world of ballet, but it was so under developed that it really didn’t show it.

And then we have the love interests (plural) and why there were two of them I’m not really sure, except maybe to act as a plot device… There was no relationship built up with either of the boys, no characters, no romance. The scenes with them were few and far between which meant that we got no real sense of the relationship building up, which was a shame.

And my biggest and final gripe with this book? The complete lack of plot development or story arc. That combined with the stop start style of writing was enough to make me want to put the book down long before it was over. Flack insists on patronising the reader and explaining basic elements of the theatre in great detail – thus breaking the narrative and making the whole thing seem disjointed. But as soon as we get into the dancing, where I imagine most readers, myself included would like to know a little more about the movements she’s dancing other than their names, and are a little lost with that little information, Flack goes completely silent and offers nothing to help the reader along.

There are some lovely moments when Hannah remembers she loves dancing and actually enjoys it, but these are so few and far between that it hardly lifted the book at all.
The book does offer an interesting insight into the gruelling world of a ballet dancer, but again, without a protagonist that I cared about, it was all a little bit lost.

It felt as though the book was a cathartic experience for someone who has gone through and lived this story, but it was too underdeveloped to be a great book with this story at its heart. Frustrating and hard to engage with this was a book that I wanted to love but left me feeling cold after reading.

Review: The Drina Series by Jean Estoril

The last month has been filled for me with moving house, and that meant unpacking a lot of books I haven’t touched since I was a child. The ‘Drina’ books were a favourite of mine growing up – in fact they were a favourite of my mother as well, as they were first published in 1957.

The series consists of eleven books, detailing the life and adventures of Drina Adams from age ten (roughly) to age eighteen. Drina, brought up by her grandparents – soft and gentle grandfather and strict and over bearing granny – after her parents were killed when she was only 18 months old. Drina is desperate to be a ballet dancer, but her granny is determined that she have nothing to do with the world. However Drina does eventually win, and we learn more about her past, her legacy, her legendary ballet dancer mother, and her travels around the world – as well as her learning to be a ballet dancer – throughout the series.

The series has aged remarkably well – particularly considering I’m reading them over half a century since the first books graced the shelves. Yes there are subtle differences – no mobiles, no computers, there are still corridors and compartments in trains and telegrams. But these are so well blended that it doesn’t seem jarring.

Yes there are turns of phrase that are awkward, and the editing is a bit naff in some of the books, but overall they are a lovely series – one that translates well from child to adult.

Drina is – whilst at times a little too highly strong – a mostly lovely character. I felt for her, and ached for her, and raced through the pages to see what would happen to the charming heroine next.

The secondary characters sometimes fall into stereotypes, but they’re so vividly created and delightful to get to know – apart from the nasty ones which 

I want to throw things out – that it really didn’t bother me. And Drina seems to have no problem making friends, which lead to a vast cast of well-crafted individuals with compelling backstories – Jenny and her tragic time growing up, the refugee Ilonka, born and bred Londoner Rose. Oh and not forgetting the boys – flamboyant Paris born Igor Dominick the younger, and the fabulously dreamy Grant Rossiter…

After reading them again, I think I’ve discovered where I got my early yearning to travel, because almost every country Drina visits is one on my list of places I’m desperate to visit. Wales, Switzerland, the Chilterns, Italy, Edinburgh, New York, Paris, Madeira… And every single one of them exquisitely and vividly described.

And the romance… It’s subtle, and completely different from anything we experience in modern novels. There is no epic first kiss, and for the most part it is a long distance yearning, but it’s beautiful and it’s painful and it’s exquisite when they’re together.

And whilst Drina’s life seems at times a little charmed, there are hardships in there, it isn’t all beautiful awesome, and her journey is by no means an easy road, and I think that gives the series such a good believable grounding to branch off into fiction from.

The ballet is not all consuming, but plays a very great part, and completely takes over whilst your reading. I always find myself yearning to travel and take up ballet whilst reading the books – which I always take as a good sign if it makes me long to do something I wouldn’t normally do.

My only complaint was how quickly Drina falls in love, and sometimes how harsh and over bearing her Grandmother can be.

Whilst there are always favourite books in a series, overall it creates a very beautiful telling of an extraordinary child’s early life.

The books in the series:

1.   Ballet for Drina

Ever since she was very small, Drina Adams has wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her Grandmother disapproves, and it’s hard for Drina to find a way to have the music and ballet lessons she needs. But Drina was born to dance – and this is the story of how she found out the truth about her background, and how she began her career.

2.   Drina’s Dancing Year

At last Drina can audition for the Dominick Ballet School in London – and she is accepted as a pupil. Settling in is hard, and Drina needs all the determination to succeed. Her greatest dream is to be chosen for the Dominick’s Christmas concert – but her teachers have an even better surprise in store!

3.   Drina Dances in Exile

The news that she must leave the Dominick Ballet School fills Drina Adams with dismay. How can she bear to leave London, her friends and the main school, for the sleepy second-best of the residential school in the country? But Drina finds that country life brings her some unexpected rewards.

4.   Drina Dances in Italy

Drina Adams is back at her ballet school in London after a year in the country. Her talents as a dancer are blooming, and her visit to Italy to stay with her father’s family ends in a triumphant surprise as she dances with the touring Ballet Company for the first time.

5.   Drina Dances Again

Still dreaming of Italy and the wonderful experience of dancing with the famous Dominick Ballet Company while still only fourteen, Drina returns to London and the realities of Ballet School life. An unlucky injury seems a disastrous start to the new term, until Drina is offered the chance to try out her acting talents. But will she ever dance with the Dominick again?

6.   Drina Dances in New York

Drina is off on an exciting trip to New York with her grandparents, traveling by sea on the Queen of the Atlantic. Any regrets she has about missing a few weeks at the Dominick Ballet School soon vanish as she finds new opportunities to dance – and experiences the first pangs of love!

Drina Dances in Paris

Drina finds it hard to settle into her old life in England after her exciting trip to New York. But she throws herself back into her dancing again, and tries to push her memories out of her mind. Then she has the thrilling offer of a trip to Paris – where she has a wonderful surprise.

8.   Drina Dances in Madeira

Drina is bitterly disappointed when she hears the her long awaited holiday to Germany is cancelled. But her Grandmother offers her some wonderful alternatives: a Mediterranean cruise, or a visit to Scandinavia of a trip to Madeira… When Drina remembers that the Lingeraux Ballet Company are also going to Madeira for the summer she has no trouble making up her mind!

9.   Drina Dances in Switzerland

Although it’s a new term at the Dominick Ballet School, Drina won’t be starting lessons again for two whole terms. Her grandparents are moving to Switzerland for the winter, and Drina is sent to a stuffy Swiss finishing school. Drina is bitterly disappointed: how will she be able to keep up with her ballet when she’s so far away from her teachers and the theatre and her dancing friends in London?

10.                Drina Goes on Tour

Drina is horrified when her long kept secret about her glamorous past is discovered. And she is totally unprepared when she becomes the centre of a blaze of publicity. How will this news, and all the resulting distractions, affect her life at the Dominick Ballet School?

 

11.                Drina Ballerina

As Drina’s eighteenth birthday approaches, the young ballet dancer faces some important decisions. The Director of the Dominick Ballet School puts an exciting proposal to her concerning the Company’s new programme. And Grant, Drina’s love for the past four years makes her an offer of a very different kind.