Review: DEATH AND THE DANCING GIRL

DEATH AND THE DANCING GIRL by Jenny Harrison (Orakei Press, 2024)

Reviewed by Jane Shearer

In 1945, a few months after the end of World War II, Tom Blake learns his wife is lost in France. She was arrested by the Gestapo but where is she now? More shocking, when last seen, Madeleine was pregnant. Tom returns to a France that has been devastated by war to try and find both his wife and his child. Even with the help of good friends, Tom, traumatized by his own actions during the war, could fail.

Death and the Dancing Girl is set in Britain and France shortly after World War II. Tom Blake is lost – his Special Operations role has ended, his estranged wife has died in a concentration camp, and he doesn’t know how to build a future. A visitor arrives – his wife’s brother – with news that his wife may be alive and also a daughter Tom never knew he had.

Tom’s search for his daughter and wife becomes his purpose. He traverses regions of post-war France in his quest. I found the descriptions of post-war times very interesting – I have read a lot more about the time of WWII than about the privation immediately following. The book contains an interesting array of characters who Tom meets along the way, including his volatile brother-in-law Lucien who grows, makes and sells wine. Tom discovers solace in working in the vineyard, despite being desperate to move on in his hunt.

Detailed descriptions of places are strength in Death and the Dancing Girl. The writing makes it easy to imagine both the remaining beauty and the struggles of the post-war era. There was, perhaps, a little too much agonising over the loss of a daughter about whom Tom knew nothing and had never met. However, if you have little in your life, you could easily become obsessed by an unknown ray of hope.

Overall, Death and the Dancing Girl is an easy read which keeps you wanting to know…why Tom is in his situation, whether daughter Sophie and Madeleine are still alive, where they might be if they are alive. To find out the answers, read the book!. 

This review was first published in FlaxFlower reviews, which focuses on in-depth reviews of New Zealand books of all kinds, and is reprinted here with the kind permission of Flaxflower founder and editor Bronwyn Elsmore.