Author: Padma Venkatraman
Series: None
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication Date: May 1, 2014
Genre: Poetry; Realistic Fiction; Contemporary; Culture; Romance
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Padma Venkatraman’s inspiring story of a young
girl’s struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically
through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancientbharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual
awakening, the power of art, and above all, the courage and resilience of the
human spirit.
Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance—so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.
Veda, a classical dance prodigy in India, lives and breathes dance—so when an accident leaves her a below-knee amputee, her dreams are shattered. For a girl who’s grown used to receiving applause for her dance prowess and flexibility, adjusting to a prosthetic leg is painful and humbling. But Veda refuses to let her disability rob her of her dreams, and she starts all over again, taking beginner classes with the youngest dancers. Then Veda meets Govinda, a young man who approaches dance as a spiritual pursuit. As their relationship deepens, Veda reconnects with the world around her, and begins to discover who she is and what dance truly means to her.
Written in beautiful verse, Padma Venkatraman tells a story of a classical bharantanatyam (I dare you to say that three times fast) dancer who, after a tragic accident, becomes a below-knee amputee. She must learn how to accept who she and how her life has changed, and rediscover the dance she fell in love with. Inspired by the brave survivors of the Boston bombing, Venkatraman wrote this wonderfully creative and inspiring tale about a girl who must conquer obstacles to return to what she loves to do more than anything.
I picked this book up for two reasons: The first was the amazing cover. I mean, look at it! It’s gorgeous! The second was the obvious Indian culture involved in this story, which is something I rarely get the chance to read, and know almost nothing about. I knew nothing about bharantanatyam (bah…bahran…bahrantatanatatn?), not to mention having no idea how to say it!
As usual, I was surprised to find that this book was written in poetry. I don’t think I have ever read a poetry book that I knew was poetry before reading the first page. But, like always, it was a happy sort of surprise, and by the end of the novel I was so in love with it, it was like I wasn’t reading poetry at all!
One of my favorite things about A Time to Dance is that the spirituality aspect is not one that preaches a certain religion to you. It explains how something, like dance, can bring you closer to something so big and encompassing, you know you’ll never fully understand it. And yet, you can still connect with it someway, and be as close to it as you possibly can. It was beautiful how the author explained the main character’s connection with dance and how it helped her discover who she really is. This book is unlike anything I have read before, with its amazing Indian culture and magnificent prose.
This book was lovely and poetic. The author entranced me into a hypnotic story about acceptance and passion, and I didn’t want it to end. I can’t wait to read something else by Padma Venkatraman, because if it is even remotely as good as A Time to Dance was, I know that it will be fantastic.
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