Dancing Backwards Author:Salley Vickers "Salley Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand, and she knows how the world works. She is a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists." - Phillip Pullman (From the back cover) — "Violet Heatherington has taken the rash step of joining a transatlanic cruise ship to New York to visit Edwin, an old friend. As s... more »he makes the six day crossing, she relives the traumatic events that led to her losing Edwin's Friendship, and abandoning her career as a poet, for the safety of marriage and domesticity.
Despite her natural reserve, she meets a rich variety of passengers travelling with her who affect her understanding of her of her own past. Most significantly she meets Dino, the dance host, whose motives in befriending Vi are shady but teaches her to ballroom dance - and inadvertently helps her to recover her past.
Moving between the late sixties and the present day, "Dancing Backwards" is written with the lightness of touch and psychological insight which characterize Salley Vickers' acclaimed work. This bittersweet novel is subtle, poignant and wonderfully entertaining." - From the inside cover.« less