A Midnight Dance (2021)

About the Book

Book: A Midnight Dance

Author: Joanna Davidson Politano

Release Date: September 7, 2021

Genre: Victorian-era Romance

All theater romances are tragedies. Ella Blythe knows this. Still, she cannot help but hope her own story may turn out different than most–and certainly different than the tragic story of the Ghost of Craven Street Theater. Yet as she struggles to maintain her tenuous place in the ever-shrinking ballet company, win the attentions of principal dancer Philippe, and avoid company flirt Jack, Ella cannot deny the uncanny feeling that her life is mirroring that of the dead ballerina.

Is she dancing ever closer to the edge of her own tragic end? Or will the secrets that are about to come to light offer release from the past?

Mystery and romance make the perfect dance partners in this evocative story from fan-favorite Joanna Davidson Politano.

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My Thoughts

A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano is one of the most exquisite novels I’ve ever read. This book is SO good. From page one to done, this story is a masterful allegory of God’s love for His children. This book had me in tears!

This is another one of those books where I have SO many highlights and marked pages. So much jumped out at me. The thing that really gobsmacked me is Politano’s diction and syntax … pure perfection. I have to confess that 90% of the time when I read, I cannot picture the story the author has envisioned. It’s quite frustrating, and I believe it is a side effect of my dyslexia, but I do the best I can. I have found that there are a few authors whose writing is SO amazing that I can actually see the story play out in my head. Politano’s books are some of the only stories I can “see” in my head and it’s because of her beautiful sentence structure and word choice. Here is one such example of Politano’s excellent sentence craftsmanship: “Ballet was a fleeting art, its dancers so quickly forgotten once they left the stage. All that effort, the tiny, endless stitches of rehearsals and stretches and many repeated tasks sewn into the larger tapestry of a performance, seemed a waste in the end. A futile way to spend one’s life. Yet for Mama, all those minuscule, repetitive stitches blended together into a larger tapestry that showed the glory of the Almighty to everyone who looked at her” (309). Isn’t that a gorgeous illustration?! I absolutely love it.

“Perfection is an illusion, and you’ll never reach it. It’s an utter waste of time to attempt it” (140). Truer words!!! When I was seven, my mom signed me up for soccer. I fell in love with the sport and dedicated 16 years of my life to the game. For a long time, soccer was my passion — the thing I got up for in the morning. I made Varsity my sophomore year in high school. I killed myself to be the best, and for a while I was pretty good. But then one day I made a mistake and one of my coaches railed into me that I was a total failure and I had let the team down. Guess what happened next? I kept making dumb mistakes. Then I started to lose my passion for the sport. Then I started to get ulcers. I was so wrapped up in being perfect that I forgot how to love the game. My absolute favorite aspect of this novel is how Ella learns to quiet human voices and dance for God. You see, Ella has the need to be perfect, too, and it nearly killed her love for ballet. It’s not until a very handsome and talented man takes her under his wing and helps her readjust her perspective. Once she readjusts herself and understands that she is dancing for God and not for anyone else, Ella is able to get her passion back. And wouldn’t you know it, she grows into an even better dancer than when she was striving for perfection. What I learned all those years ago, what Ella learns in this story, is that perfection kills!

Oh my word, I barely scratched the surface of this amazing story. There is SO much depth and loveliness to A Midnight Dance that one review is not enough to do this book justice. Truly, this is a story that must be read and experienced. If you are a fan of excellently written Historical Romances that are also incredibly inspiring, then I highly, highly recommend A Midnight Dance.

I purchased a copy of this novel in eBook form from Amazon.com on November 21, 2021, in order to review. In no way has this influenced my review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.