Black Dance - Softcover

A rowdy reel of a novel that spans a hundred years and one familys far flung roots by the internationally acclaimed author of Fault Lines.

Screenwriter Milo Noirlac is dying. As he lies in his hospital bed, voices from his past and present?real and imagined?come to him in the dark, each taking on the rhythm of his favorite Brazilian fight-dance, the capoeira. Seated next to him, Milos partner, bumptious director Paul Schwartz, coaxes Milo through his life story; from the abuse he suffered as a foster child, to his lost heritage, his beloved grandfathers priceless library. As Milo narrates, his story becomes the pairs final screenplay, the movie that will be their masterpiece.

With Milos imagination in full flight, several generations of Noirlac ancestors ?voices in French and English, German and Dutch, Cree and Gaelic?come to life. Theres Neil Kerrigan his Irish grandfather, classmate of ?Jimmy Joyce, would-be poet and aspiring activist in the fight against British occupation, crushed by his exile in Quebec; Awinita, Milos biological mother, an Indian teen prostitute; Eugénio, a Brazilian street child whom Milo finds and fosters; and Marie-Thérèse, Milos tough-as-nails aunt. As each voice cascades through Milos memory, a fragment of family, and world, history falls into place.

Already a critically-acclaimed bestseller in France, Nancy Hustons Black Dance is a rich portrait of one mans life and death; a swirling, sensual dance of a novel, from an exceptional and rare literary voice.

?As musical as a Bach prelude.?Elle (France)

?A magnificently structured novel, one that captivates us with its grace and power ?memorable. ?Madame Figaro