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Sign up todayThe Cranes Dance
Narrator
Justine Eyre
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Length
11 hours 41 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“This book is a fascinating world into the world of dance, through the eyes of a jaded, cynical, aging (so, mid twenties maybe?) ballerina whose acerbic voice reflects this jadedness and cynicism so well. This was one of those unputdownable books – especially if you love a deep dive into the mind of a brilliantly drawn character. Bonus: the author was herself a dancer, so you know that everything about that world is (wait for it) on pointe.”
— Claire • East City Bookshop
I threw my neck out in the middle of Swan Lake tonight.
So begins the tale of Kate Crane, a soloist in a celebrated New York City ballet company. Kate is struggling to keep her place in a very demanding world, a world she can't help satirizing even as she balances injury and self-doubt to maintain her place within it. At every turn she is haunted by her close relationship with her younger sister, Gwen, a fellow company dancer whose career quickly surpassed Kate's but who has recently suffered a breakdown and returned home to Michigan.
Alone for the first time in her life, Kate is anxious and full of guilt about the role she played in her sister's collapse. As we follow her on an insider tour of rehearsals, performances, and partners onstage and off, she confronts the tangle of love, jealousy, pride, and obsession that are beginning to fracture her own sanity. Funny, dark, intimate, and unflinchingly honest, The Cranes Dance is a book that pulls back the curtains to reveal the private lives of dancers and explores the complicated bond between sisters.
Meg Howrey is a former dancer who performed with The Joffrey Ballet, Eglevsky Ballet, and City Ballet of Los Angeles. She is the author of three novels and the coauthor of the bestselling novels City of Dark Magic and City of Lost Dreams, published under the pen name Magnus Flyte. Her non-fiction has appeared in Vogue and the Los Angeles Review of Books
JUSTINE EYRE has turned her passion for reading and remarkable facility with accents into her dream career. This classically trained, multilingual actress has narrated well over 400 audiobooks and been honored to receive a coveted Audie Award and multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards. Appearing in leading roles onstage in King Lear and The Crucible, she has also graced the screen in Two and Half Men and Mad Men amongst her many television credits.
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Reviews
“Playful and smart, Meg Howrey’s fresh voice unveils an eye-opening tale about the secretive and obsessive world of ballet.”
“Meg Howrey deftly raises the velvet curtain on life ‘backstage’ at a top New York City ballet company, revealing the backstabbing and the grit beneath the tutus and the glamour in this hilarious tale of sibling rivalry, youthful ambition and dreams lost and found. Witty, sharp, and exhilarating as the Black Swan’s solo or Vishneva’s fouettés.”
“From The Red Shoes to Black Swan, Hollywood has provided unforgettable portrayals of the ballet world’s grisliness as well as its glamour. At last, The Cranes Dance brings this enchanting world alive in literature but with tremendous wit, flair, and psychological insight. With its universal themes of ambition and competition, sisterhood and sacrifice, it will appeal to bad dancers as well as balletomanes—an addictive, readable delight.”
“Engaging…Revelations about family, talent, and what makes us special create a thought-provoking and entertaining read.”
“Howrey’s taut character study offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional dance through the eyes of a complex, damaged, tenacious young dancer.”
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