Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Anchor (1994), 199 pages
Description
This novel explores the intricacies and dangers of love and commitment, describing the lifelong and complex bond between a pair of first cousins. Angel is dark and plain, a composer of childish verse - spellbound by her wild and seductive cousin Lara, who expresses herself in freeform dance.
User reviews
LibraryThing member wandering_star
Poet & Dancer is a short novel focusing on the relationship between a young woman (Angel - the 'poet' of the title) and her beautiful, manipulative cousin Lara (the 'dancer'). The relationship is convincingly described, as we watch Angel fall increasingly under Lara's spell, and become distant from
Show More
the other people around her. Yet somehow, it isn't easy to care: Lara is too obviously a self-centred little trollop, and Angel too much of a dumpling, to evoke real sympathy. Jhabvala has deliberately decided to use simple language (apart from one small passage which describes Angel's feelings about the part of the city where she lives) - this gives the book a sense of being a morality tale (as do the lightly sketched other characters), but it limits the insight into the characters' psyches. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
199 p.; 5.5 x 0.75 inches
ISBN
0385468873 / 9780385468879
Local notes
Fiction