You Alone Are Dancing

I think that the editor of this sight did not justly review Flannagan's text. He/she wrote that this is a story about only two things: the politics of Trinidad and the story of Sonny Allen's struggle. Yes, this is a powerful political story, but it is not only a story of Sonny's struggle, as is written here. It is also a story about women and their choices. The editor, in addition to forgetting to mention the novel's female protagonist, did not even seemingly notice the cover artwork of Brenda Flannagan's novel on which a woman is shown walking toward or past a man lying stationary in a hammock. Beatrice's story is a keystone of the political story. She is the true hero because she does not abandon her conflict, hoping to rebuild her life without her culture. Beatrice's development is superior to Sonny's because he feels that he is unable to rebuild what exists, and must build something new. While all Flannagan's characters speak as though alive, I think that the strongest voice in her novel should be recognized as that of Beatrice, the peddle pusher wearing queen- not Sonny Allen. Sonny and this editor did not realize that one can not shake all the soil out of the roots of the plant. Beatrice is the soil that allows the root of this novel to grow in the mind of the reader.

Much more then just a romance novel, this book dives into a real world situation that allows the reader to develope an understanding of how many poor people live outside of the US. A lot of the novels dialog contains pharses and terms native to the location and adds a sence of realness and escape to what we are use to as English in the US. This is also the reason I gave it a 4 (actually 4.5) instead of a 5. If there were some kind of dictionary or glossory, it would make some things a little more clear. If your looking for a good book thats a different style then your use too, this is the book.