This novel tells the story of the period that Isadora Duncan, American pioneer of modern dance, spent on the Dutch coast. We’re talking about Noordwijk anno 1906, the famous dancer withdraws to a rented villa when she discovers she is pregnant. In the mean time we look back through her eyes at the time before she came to the Netherlands; her impoverished youth, her family, how she became rich and famous and then destitute and notorious, and eventually how she returned to the stage. We gain a better knowledge of her and her motives thanks to these significant past episodes.

 What made a deep impression on me is Isadora Duncan’s free spirit and her disregard for the prevailing norms and values of 1900. She stuck to her own choices, no matter how tough they sometimes were. For example, when she chose to start a relation with a married man and becomes pregnant; consequently her conscious decision to rear the child as an unmarried mother. This self-assured and vibrant woman suffered many setbacks but time and again she emerged stronger and reinvented herself. And she intensely enjoyed the happy moments in her life.

Moreover, she is an extremely intuitive dancer with an incredible feel for music. Probably something every dancer will immediately recognize. Similar to the way she moves on waves of music, the reader is swept along with her emotional highs and lows. The visual aspect sucks you into the story. The author has based her story on fact but like any good writer, she has permitted herself certain liberties to make the narrative run more smoothly. Unfortunately the story ends the moment Isadora Duncan leaves Holland; I would have gladly read more about what happened to her and her child. Now I will have to refer to other sources in the library.      

At the start of 2024, I worked for 4 months in the ATD library. If I was still there now, I would  personally recommend this book to every visitor. However, now I’m endorsing it in this way: Read this book whether you’re a dancer or not, it’s a change from the required reading and forms an excellent supplement.     

Veronique van Stokkom
Librarian at the Breitner Academie.