The Master’s Muse

Reviews

“What a rare pleasure to be introduced to Tanaquil Le Clercq through The Master’s Muse. I was enchanted from the first page by Varley O’Connor’s graceful portrait of this remarkable woman. How privileged we readers are to have the life in all of its strength and intelligence and elegance. Le Clercq is rendered without fuss or ornament, in a manner wholly at one with the beauty she and Balanchine strove for in their art.”

“Loving Frank was a novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most scandalous love affair. The Paris Wife centered on the first Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Into this group of well-researched novelizations of famous love lives comes Varley O’Connor’s The Master’s Muse, about New York City Ballet artistic director George Balanchine.”

“A thoroughly researched and lively tribute to both the couple and the essence of a private, dauntless woman struck down by polio at the height of her career.”

“O’Connor’s book confines itself to their sixteen-year marriage, and though the author’s note suggests that she never met her protagonists, she has clearly done her homework—consulting the archives, familiarizing herself with the repertory, collecting details about the decor of their Upper West Side apartment, and the arrangement of the furniture in their house in Weston, Connecticut.”

“A highly readable, absorbing account of the interdependence between Tanaquil Le Clercq and George Balanchine. A must read for dance fans.”

“Graceful and penetrating…This passionate novel not only gives a glimpse into the ballet world of the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, its eccentric characters bring the story to life.”

“A masterful portrait of the woman who served as muse not only to Balanchine but to some of the pivotal personalities in the development of modern art. The Master’s Muse reads like a troubled love letter to art, dance, and creation—and the complexity and betrayal of a life spent in their service.”

“O’Connor, the daughter of a polio survivor, has done her research, and her well-written novel reads like the memoir Le Clercq herself never wrote.”

“This is not a novel about victimization or the malevolence of genius but rather about the painful accommodations all of us make for the things and people we love. Thoughtful, tender, and quite gripping, even for readers unfamiliar with the historical events the author sensitively reimagines.”

“A brilliant novel in memoir form, The Master’s Muse is pure magic. As I read and was thoroughly absorbed by the writing, the remarkable characters, and the story, I simply could not believe this was a work of fiction, not an authentic memoir, expertly written. The Master’s Muse is a superb performance by Varley O’Connor. From one writer to another, my hat’s off.”

“An utterly gorgeous rendering of the life of ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq, whose career was destroyed overnight by polio in 1956. O’Connor vividly recreates the personalities and intrigues of the dance world of the fifties and sixties, but her greatest triumph is in her fascinating portrait of the steely Le Clercq and the enigmatic Balanchine, who first made her his perfect ballerina, then married her, and ultimately betrayed her.”

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