Family Secrets

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead follows the life of young dancer, Joan, from her aspirations in a New York city ballet company and her early retirement when she decides to get married and has a child. Along the way, readers are introduced to the characters that influence Joan's life: Arslan Ruskov, the brilliant Russian dancer whom Joan helps to defect, Jacob, her partner in her strained and awkward marriage, Harry, Joan's ballet-prodigy son, and Chloe, the neighbors' daughter. Recommended for readers who enjoy literary fiction and family secrets. Similar in style to Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake" and Jess Walter's "Beautiful Ruins." HM

If you haven't seen The Red Shoes you should know that the library has a remastered copy of it.  This is a visually spectacular movie from the 1940s that is known world-wide for it's stunning, award winning scenery and for it's ballet within a movie.  Don't be put off by the word ballet if you're not a fan - this movie is so much more.  Based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale The Red Shoes, which is the story of a young girl taken over by a pair of red shoes who dances herself to death, it's the story of Vicky, the young ballerina waiting for her big break, Julian the composer, likewise ready to launch his career, and Boris Lermontov, the ballet company owner who controls their fates. Partway into the movie we see the creation of a new ballet which launches the careers of Vicky and Julian.  That ballet is The Red Shoes which is then shown within the movie (approximately 20 minutes long).  Not to be missed!  SG