4 out of 4 stars
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Hardly had I come across a book that combined history, love, war, slavery and spirituality into one beautiful story. Daughters Of The Dance by Armida Nagy Rose is one of them. The story is about a family of female dancers Dara, Ayana and Nona living in Curacao Island.
Ayana woke up after two years of suspended mental state. She suffered from severe depression after getting departed from her husband, Stefan. Sandor, who was the complete opposite of Stefan, always had sexual intentions towards Ayana. He separated the two lovebirds at the time of World War 2. Ayana, who was bearing the child of Stefan, went back to her mother Dara and gave birth to Nona. Time passed, and Nona grew to be a beautiful young lady. She fell in love with a handsome young man, Ariel. Sandor became a powerful barrister and a candidate for a judgeship in the Dutch Antilles. However, his days of happiness were soon going to be over. Awiti, who was the slave of Sandor, was often sexually exploited by him. She couldn't tolerate more when she came to know that her daughter had a relationship with Sandor. She made a plan, and with the help of Yellie, she taught Sandor a lesson. After completing her PhD in Art History, Nona soon married the love of her life and gave birth to a child Myra. They moved to Trinidad and lived happily thereafter.
The life of Dara, Ayana and Nona were captivating. The story was heartbreaking but also inspiring. The plight of slaves, especially women of the mid-20th century was disheartening to read. Also, the mass murder of Jews during World War 2 was covered very well. Stefan was one of the victims because he was a Jew. The Geopolitics of different European nations during that time was elaborately discussed to make the story more relatable. Even though the story is transpiring at the time of a war, it has a strong spiritual dimension to it. Ayana is portrayed as a very spiritual lady. According to Ayana, her dance is a way to experience the divine. Even sex is a tool for her to experience bliss and ultimate union. I think Ayana was the most well-developed character in the book. Other characters such as Dara, Nona, Sandor, Stefan and Ariel were also developed well. The book was very informative. It had everything such as Art, History, Politics, Eastern Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality. The author must be an expert in History to write all those things. There are different languages used in the book such as Dutch, German, Ladino, Papiamentu and Spanish. However, the meanings of these words are given at the end of every chapter. I struggled to understand those words because I was reading a Kindle version of the book.
There is a little about the book that I disliked. It felt that the ending was overstretched. The story could have ended earlier because Sandor was punished and almost everything was sorted out. But it's entirely my opinion and other readers can differ on that aspect. The book was mostly error-free. I spotted minor typos here and there that hardly affected the reading experience. I found some unusual bold letters in the book. Overall, the book was enjoyable and informative.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The minor typos didn't really affect the quality of the book. Hence, the score must be 4 out of 4. The book is recommended to those who like art, history or love stories. There is a lot of sexual content in the book. So children should stay away from it.
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Daughters of the Dance
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