First published 1991
In a quiet California university town during the 1950s, three women step into a modern dance studio that will reshape their lives forever. What begins as weekly classes becomes something far more dangerous as movement unlocks emotions these women have kept buried. Through stretches and leaps, they discover parts of themselves that don't fit the careful boundaries of their expected roles as wives, mothers, and proper ladies of their community. The dance floor becomes a place where bodies speak truths that voices cannot say. As the women grow bolder in their physical expression, their carefully constructed private lives begin to crack. Each woman faces choices that will either free her or destroy everything she has built. The studio mirrors reflect not just their moving forms but the women they might become if they dare to keep dancing toward an uncertain edge.
Genres: drama, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, self-discovery
Setting: California
Period: 1950s
224 pages · Hardcover · Dutton