Thursday's Children, by Rumer Godden

[rachelmanija]

This is my favorite children's novel about ballet. Yes, including Ballet Shoes. I don't know how many times I've re-read it other than "a lot."

Doone Penny wasn't supposed to be a dancer. His mother danced professionally, very briefly and in a very minor way, before marrying a greengrocer and having six boys. When Mrs. Penny finally had a girl, she decided that her daughter Crystal would have the dancing career she never had. Her final child, Doone, was the afterthought. But when Crystal has to babysit Doone by taking him along to her ballet lessons, Doone falls in love with ballet.

Doone has a whole lot of obstacles that Crystal doesn't have to deal with, as his mother doesn't take him seriously or want to spend money on his lessons, his father is outright opposed to his son dancing as he think it will make him gay, and his brothers think it's sissy and bully him. But he also has some advantages that Crystal doesn't have: adult professionals generally like him a lot and want to mentor him, and the lack of expectations means that he can pursue dance purely for the love of it, without it being tangled up in resentment and rebellion and obligation.

Rumer Godden knew a lot about dance - she studied it seriously and taught a dance school, though she I don't think she ever danced professionally. The whole book is about ballet (and secondarily music), written about in a completely engaging style. In terms of how to make the process of a particular pursuit fascinating, it's like Dick Francis wrote a book about ballet and forgot to put in a murder.

The world of ballet school has all the pleasures of a boarding school story plus backstage drama. All the characters you know from theatre are there. Yuri Korszorz is the brilliant, sexy ballet star and choreographer who throws the school into a tizzy when he swoops in to look for a few young people to dance in his new ballet. I know the type well. We had one of them at my college. I had a massive crush on him, heard rumors that he had affairs with students, and felt both creeped out and jealous. Yuri is beneficial for the students with whom he has completely professional interactions with, and destructive or destabilizing for others. (The inappropriate touching consists of one kiss, but he also does some inappropriate toying with emotions.)

Most of the ballet adults are, thankfully, much more positive iterations on mentor and teacher figures; if they have feet of clay, it's mostly in a way that isn't harmful to anyone but themselves. Godden's characterization of a rather large cast is excellent, sketching in the minor characters vividly and the main ones - Doone, Crystal, and Mrs. Penny - brilliantly.

Doone in particular is an unusual, memorable character. He struggles with schoolwork due to what we can recognize as dyslexia or some other learning disability, but which Godden apparently observed well enough to depict without knowing what it was. Doone is a quiet, earnest, rather literal-minded boy with a gift for both music and dancing, a love for dancing that probably surpasses even his talent for it, and an understated stubbornness that enables him to persevere through being ignored, being actively discouraged, and worse. For Doone, everything about dance is fraught except the dance itself. He's the epitome of keeping his eyes on the prize, but for him, the prize is just to keep dancing.

Comments

[swan_tower]

The "ballet = gay" equation always perplexed me slightly. Sure, prejudice against artsy-fartsy stuff -- but once you got to more advanced classes, being The Guy at the school meant getting to put your hands on a bunch of slender girls in spandex.

(Alas, my ballet icon is gone!)

[rachelmanija]

I think it's just that ballet is perceived as a feminine activity, so any man involved in it must be effeminate.

[mildred_of_midgard]

This reminds me of the memoir by the son of the astronaut who wrote the memoir Riding Rockets (another excellent book I learned about from Rachel): he went out for cheerleading (in the 80s), got made relentless fun of, but was like, "Guys! I get to be the only boy at the girls' sleepovers!"

[cahn]

Oh gosh, I read this book forever ago and loved it and had totally forgotten about it, thank you for the reminder! A reread is definitely indicated.

[rachelmanija]

Tell me what you think!

[sovay]

In terms of how to make the process of a particular pursuit fascinating, it's like Dick Francis wrote a book about ballet and forgot to put in a murder.

That sounds great.

[rachelmanija]

You would like it, I think.

[osprey_archer]

Oh, this sounds fantastic. Godden is so good at ballet books; my first Godden was Listen to the Nightingale, which my mother read to me when I was stuck home from first grade with strep throat, and it may have been the book that hooked me on boarding school books, not that I understood it at the time.

[rachelmanija]

Oh I like that one too. I have a review of it cued up for tomorrow.

[mildred_of_midgard]

it's like Dick Francis wrote a book about ballet and forgot to put in a murder.

Ooh, this sounds right up my alley! That's why I read Dick Francis, he can get me in a state of "I don't care about this pursuit at all, but for the duration of this book you have made me care and I want MORE!" He made accounting interesting, for goodness' sakes!

Same deal with Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel, it has this whole urban fantasy plot plus oddly unsatisfying reunited sisters plot, but somewhere in the background is Edward Marriner's career as a photographer and passion for what he does, and I just wish there had been more about that. And I don't care about photography at *all*, don't get it, always thought it was boring.

I will be checking this one out!

[rachelmanija]

I think you'll enjoy it. So many fascinating details about ballet and how ballet schools work.

[mildred_of_midgard]

FTR, I never cared about hang gliding or pottery either, but keep the updates coming! :D

[mildred_of_midgard]

I am loving this book! Halfway through and reluctantly putting it down for bed.

Thank you for the rec! I would never have picked it up.

[rachelmanija]

I love hearing that.

[mildred_of_midgard]

I finished it last night. It was great! I do wish there had been more Doone dancing (or playing Mr. Felix's piano), and I could have done with a lot less Crystal, especially the final plotline with her and Yuri. And it had one of the tropes with which I have a love-hate relationship: prodigy child is forcibly separated from beloved supportive mentor/trainer/surrogate parent figure, child goes on to be a great success, prodigy and beloved mentor are never reunited to give me as the reader that satisfaction. I don't mind the forcible separation, I just want some emotional closure by the end!

I was at least pleased by the call-out in the last line.

Thanks again for the rec.

ETA: Sorry, I realize that reads mostly like complaining. I did love it! I'm just in that itchy state that fanfic is meant for. :D

[pameladean]

Oh, huh, I keep bouncing off the Rumer Godden people recommend, but this sounds as if I really might like it.

P.

[genarti]

In terms of how to make the process of a particular pursuit fascinating, it's like Dick Francis wrote a book about ballet and forgot to put in a murder.

Well, I'm sold! I'm generally interested in books about dance(rs) anyway, which makes it an even easier sell, but Dick Francis comparisons on that particular front are a great rec in their own right.

[ethelmay]

I don't remember a lot of details, but "It's a wicked thing to do" and the endearing note Doone writes about "Frut is good for you" (he can't spell very well - I also assumed dyslexia) have stuck with me for some reason.

[illariy]

Ooooh, this sounds absolutely lovely! Adding to my wish list. :D

Darn, reading your book reviews is proving to be dangerous for my wish list, hehe, yet I can't stop. XD

[qian]

Oh, I love Rumer Godden and had forgotten, if I ever knew, that she did ballet books. And it's £2.99 on Kindle! Exciting.

[carbonel]

I just wanted to mention that my library system has this book, and I enjoyed reading it. I especially enjoyed the fact that things work out for both children and it isn't just the evil manipulative one versus the good and innocent one.

Also, I was intrigued by the afterword in which Rumer Godden mentions that she inadvertently included a scene that was very similar to one in Kitty Barne's She Shall Have Music, and I am now reading reading that one, thanks to ILL. (I keep wanting to add a terminal "s" to "Barne," but it really isn't spelled that way.)

[rachelmanija]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I remember that bit in the afterword and was also curious. What's it about?

[carbonel]

I just started it, so I can't say much yet. But the basic setup is that an Irish family (mother, Biddy, and four or five children) has just moved to England for Family Reasons. (I infer that the father died, because he's not around and there's an Admiral arranging things.) Karen, the youngest one, falls sick just as the others are starting school, and she's sent to an aunt-by-courtesy to recuperate. The aunt has a piano and plays it, though not professionally. Karen is fascinated and starts to learn, then has to go back home with a small stack of piano music from the aunt but no access to a piano. I'm just at the point where the family is starting to see that as a problem to be solved.