Flight of the Swan - Hardcover

Ferre, Rosario

3.55

104 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374156484 ISBN 13: 9780374156480

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001

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The story of a prima ballerina and her acolyte, set in Puerto Rico in 1917.

Flight of the Swan is the compelling story of a world-famous Russian prima ballerina who finds herself stranded on a Caribbean island in 1917, due to political upheavals in her own country. This charming jeu d'esprit explores the complexities of love and betrayal, as the loyal servant Masha gradually comes to recognize that in spite of what she sees as Madame's propensity to be both pretentious and vain, the ballerina is prepared to sacrifice everything for her art. Madame's unfaltering commitment to dance above all else -- and her demand of nothing less from her disciples -- forces Masha to question what choices she herself is willing to make when it comes to her own loves, ideals, and relationships.

Humorous, engaging, and coyly revealing, Flight of the Swan traces the decisions made by Masha, Madame, and other members of the troupe during their enforced three-month stay in Puerto Rico, and in doing so raises the question of where true happiness lies.

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About the Author:

A National Book Award finalist, Rosario Ferr� is the author of The Youngest Doll, Sweet Diamond Dust, The House on the Lagoon (FSG, 1995), and Eccentric Neighborhoods (FSG, 1998). She is a frequent lecturer in the United States and lives in Puerto Rico.

From Publishers Weekly:

Love and betrayal, political upheaval, the sacrifices required by dedication to art, and class differences are some of the themes that Ferr‚ (The House on the Lagoon) engages in this imaginatively conceived but strangely lackluster story of a Russian ballet company stranded in Puerto Rico in 1917. Suddenly rendered stateless by the Russian revolution, a touring troupe headed by a famous prima ballerina is forced to remain in San Juan. As narrated by Masha, a member of the company who idolizes Madame and serves as her devoted maid and confidante, the troupe becomes caught up in the nascent Puerto Rican independence movement. Madame, who preaches the sanctity of art to her virginal acolytes, herself falls in love with Diamantino M rquez, a young man half her age, who uses her to further his revolutionary activities. Devastated by Madame's emotional abandonment, Masha attempts to save her mistress from her unwise passion. At first, Ferr‚'s straightforward narrative style ably conveys a wealth of background information, but soon digressions to explain historical events and long monologues overwhelm the plot. Jarringly, Masha's narration is broken off abruptly and briefly late in the story to introduce another voice. Overall, the novel is bland, devoid of stylistic distinction and sadly lacking in dramatic tension: even the climactic scene describing a tragic brawl during a carnival has little suspense. Despite Ferr‚'s laudable intentions to encapsulate a period of Puerto Rican history by fictionalizing some events in the life of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, this novel falls short of her previous work. (June)Forecast: A highly successful novelist in Puerto Rico, Ferr‚ began her career writing in Spanish. She now writes directly in English, which may account for the pedestrian quality of this novel. Since there is more gusto in her Spanish prose, which she herself has called "baroque," a Spanish-language version of this novel will undoubtedly find a wider audience.

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