The Chosen Maiden
Ratings1
Average rating3
15
Ratings1
Average rating3
The lush, sweeping story of a remarkable dancer who charts her own course through the tumultuous years of early twentieth-century Europe. Beautifully blending fiction with fact, The Chosen Maiden plunges readers into an artistic world upended by modernity, immersing them in the experiences of the era's giants, from Anna Pavlova and Serge Diaghilev to Coco Chanel and Pablo Picasso. From their earliest days, the Nijinsky siblings appear destined for the stage. Bronia is a gifted young ballerina, but she is quickly eclipsed by her brother Vaslav. Deemed a prodigy, Vaslav Nijinsky will grow into the greatest, and most provocative, dancer of his time. To prove herself her brother's equal in the rigid world of ballet, Bronia will need to be more than extraordinary, defying society's expectations of what a female dancer can and should be. The real-life muse behind one of the most spectacular roles in dance, The Rite of Spring's Chosen Maiden, Bronia rises to the heights of modern ballet through grit, resilience and fervor. But when the First World War erupts and rebellion sparks in Russia, Bronia—caught between old and new, traditional and ground-breaking, safe and passionate—must begin her own search for what it means to be modern.
Reviews with the most likes.
Interminable is the one adjective that best describes this well-written and interesting fictionalized autobiography. Told in first person, the life of famous ballet dancer Nijinsky's younger sister is chronicled from Russian childhood under Tsar Nicholas through the Second World War, when she is working in France and England. There is clearly a wealth of information chronicling the life of Bronia Nijinska because this novel just goes on and on and on. And she's not even dead at the end of it! Its very good but could easily have been a third shorter without sacrificing any of the plot.
I recieved a free copy of this book from the publisher.
