A Dance in Time
Dance to the tune that’s playing, not to the noise in your head.
The Irish Independent: “.…Ross has ransacked (her word) the best scholarly sources for her facts and ingeniously knitted a complex tale of betrayal, revenge, suspense, murder mystery — and surprise. One key event pounced on this cynical novel-reader utterly without warning… this is no mass-produced chick-lit. In this wild, gamey, bodice-ripper John McGahern meets Maeve Binchy.” Full Review: Here
The Irish Independent: “.…Ross has ransacked (her word) the best scholarly sources for her facts and ingeniously knitted a complex tale of betrayal, revenge, suspense, murder mystery — and surprise. One key event pounced on this cynical novel-reader utterly without warning… this is no mass-produced chick-lit. In this wild, gamey, bodice-ripper John McGahern meets Maeve Binchy.” Full Review: Here
At one level, A Dance in Time is a whodunnit. A selfish man has been murdered, apparently poisoned by his medication. The two chief suspects are his daughter, Izzy, who at the beginning of the novel has been arrested and charged with the crime, and her daughter, Star. To understand who killed Martin Mulcahy and why, we need to go back in time. Izzy is our guide for the journey but rather than face the reality of her arrest, she escapes into another story: that of her namesake, Iseult Gonne. This other Iseult was a real historical figure, the illegitimate daughter of Maud Gonne, the famous beauty and revolutionary — and muse to the poet, WB Yeats.
Surrounded by men who desired her, including more than one of her mother’s beaus, Iseult Gonne is a shadowy figure and Izzy has to strain to hear her voice through the pronouncements of the more voluble characters around her. As she sets down their two stories, side by side, startling commonalities emerge, echoing and shadowing each other across the width of the twentieth century.
But how will any of this help Izzy when she has to stand up in court and give testimony that is devastating to everyone she loves most?
The Bookbag.co.uk: “…I don’t often beg authors for a review copy of their book but having read Lovers’ Hollow, Orna’s debut novel, I made an exception for this book. Lovers’ Hollow had a delicate balance of fact and fiction which kept me riveted from beginning to end and I was keen to see if Orna could maintain the standard with her next book. I gave Lovers’ Hollow five stars and A Dance in Time deserves no less – in fact this book is altogether more skilful …infinitely rewarding. Pull the delicate strands of the relationships and see how the present mirrors the past, see how history repeats itself. It’s superb. Full review: Here
Mother/daughter theme
The novel is my exploration of the complexity of the mother-daughter relationship. Both Iseults, and Maud and Star, are caught within this complexity.
Another Irish writer, Edna O’Brien, once said: “If you want to know what I regard as the principal crux of female despair, it is this: in the Greek myth of Oedipus and in Freud’s exploration of it, the son’s desire for his mother is admitted; the infant daughter also desires its mother but it is unthinkable, either in myth, in fantasy or in fact, that that desire can be consummated.” As Izzy faces down her daughter across the corpse of her father, the threads of the story knit together in an altogether unexpected way, which finally makes redemption a possibility — for those who are open to it.
RTE Guide: Orna Ross’s second novel is crafted with the skill of a veteran and the suspense is built with perfection. The character of Izzy is so compelling and interesting that she stays in your mind long after you’ve read the last page. The book is epic and tackles difficult issues with skill and sensitivity. This work of fiction leaves you not only wiser about events in history but also about the issues surrounding the complicated heroine.
Writing, Inspiration & Creativity
This novel is also my tribute to writing. As well as ransacking and plundering the published and private writings of Yeats, Ezra Pound, Francis Stuart, John MacBride and Maud and Iseult Gonne for details of scene, character, action and dialogue, almost every chapter contains an overt or hidden tribute to another writer who has been influential in my own development – writers as disparate as Wallace Stegner, Carol Shields, John McGahern, Janet Fitch and many, many others.
Amazon.co.uk: “This is a magnificent book spanning decades, countries, cultures and people. It is exquisitely written with the author showing a light touch where required… The historical passages are littered with interesting titbits and gossip of the time. The characters are well drawn and realised, even if this reader did want to give one of the main characters a slap in an attempt to stop her moaning and complaining. Without a shadow of a doubt I can recommend this book to all, go on and buy it, you will enjoy it.” Full review: Here