#BlogTour Ask Me To Dance by Sylvia Colley

Today it is my turn on the BlogTour for Ask Me To Dance by Sylvia Colley. It is a heartfelt tale of healing, forgiveness and understanding. When someone deals with personal grief and anger without airing it in any way they can become an emotional ticking time-bomb.

About the Author

Sylvia Colley was born in Romsey, Hampshire. She became a teacher and spent many years as Head of English at the Purcell School in North London.

She has published a book of poetry, It’s Not What I Wanted Though, and a novel, Lights on Dark Water. Her work has been read on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Pinner, Middlesex.

Follow @SylviaColley @MuswellPress

Visit sylviacolley.co.uk

Buy Ask Me To Dance

About the book

Rose Gregory has suffered a devastating blow, a double bereavement from which months later she is still reeling. Sanctuary and rest are prescribed by her doctor. But when she arrives at her refuge, a dank and decaying Monastery, she finds it is not the haven promised. Despite the veneer of calm contemplation, the Monastery turns out to be a hotbed of intrigue and disharmony. Rose witnesses bullying and cruelty and ultimately in defence of the vulnerable turns to violence herself. Sylvia Colley’s extraordinary understanding of a woman’s struggle to deal with grief, the denial, the anger, the loneliness, is described without sentimentality. A beautifully written and moving story.

Review

‘I woke to a dead soul housed inside a live body’

Rose spends a lot of time trying to escape her grief and her emotions. She is distraught on the inside and yet on the outside she appears to be cold and in control. There is only so much a body can hide until it starts to react to such an incredible strain. It takes a while for the crumbling to start, and when it does she is guided towards a place where she can find some peace.

Her most poignant moment was admitting she was frightened that her faith wouldn’t move mountains at all and that she was frightened of putting God to the test, which of course equates to her doubting her faith in general. The realisation that no matter how much you pray there usually isn’t a miracle waiting around the next corner. Sometimes there is no explanation or reason.

It takes Rose a while to understand that she is not just dealing with anger, she is also dealing with guilt. What if she had been there? What if she hadn’t been ill that day? Did she make the right choices after the accident, and most importantly how could she forget the dead in favour of the living.

In a way I think Rose believes her loss is a punishment and the confirmation of the lack of love and understanding she also encountered as a child. You are not good enough to be loved, hence being punished by such an immense loss. The anger about her past has always smouldered deep inside her, but the loss of her loved ones is the striking of the match, and the events in the retreat are fuel which ignites and unleashes the fierce storm of anger within her.

Ask Me To Dance is a story about grief, faith and pain. It is about questioning each moment in our lives that somehow forms our personality and the choices we make in our lives. When something or someone destroys the imagined foundations of our existence, some of us rebuild the structure, but some people give up completely.

Colley keeps it simple and relatable. This could happen to any person at any given time. She approaches the topic of faith without being preachy, bullying without crass incidents and healing without sudden heavenly revelations. It is an endearing tale written with a lot of compassion, and yet very down-to-earth.

Buy Ask Me To Dance at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Publisher Muswell Press

The Cauliflower by Nicola Barker

This book probably won’t fit the image of anything you expect it to be. It is speculative and experimental fiction. I’m not a stranger to the more speculative, new and experimental fiction.

In fact I enjoy out of the box reads, you just never know what you’re going to get. A box of chocolates scenario.

Because this is probably way out of a lot of readers comfort zone it may be worth mentioning what I think Barker is trying to convey with her unusual narrative.

It’s the fictional life-story of the Hindu guru Sri Ramakrishna and his relationship with faith. More specifically also the way others experience faith.

I think perhaps readers who are interested in the process of finding, living and experiencing a relationship with faith will enjoy the funny banter and situations.

To be completely honest it just didn’t do it for me. I felt it was just too much, too many characters and scenarios. It was literally raining words. Less is sometimes more. Any semblance of sanity, reason or logic is lost within those words.

Sounds strange, right? Well, what it comes down to is that I didn’t experience this story as the piece of literary genius others have experienced this read as. What I will say in regards to that is sometimes when you get an Emperor’s new clothes situation – sometimes the Emperor is simply naked – the end.

Buy The Cauliflower at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Talent for Humanity

Talent For Humanity is edited and introduced by Patrick Gaffney and foreword is written by Thierry Sanchez.

This book presents the stories of people, who have had and are still having a great impact on their fellow humans. Readers learn about their individual paths or journeys of enlightenment and their discovery of self.

My Seven Voyages by Reza
His voyages into the Persian culture and how deeply he has been influenced by the words and poetry of said culture. He explains how he came to understand the true meaning of injustice and his road leads to a crossroads. Making the choice between two roads ‘one of inaction and renunciation or the exposure and denunciation of injustice.’

His path leads him right into the open arms of the Shah’s secret police. Reza mentions the months of torture almost in passing, as if it is a mere blip on his radar. His letter to humanity speaks of the tool with which he chooses to communicate the pain, turmoil and journeys of his fellow humans.

Making the World a Better Place Through the Arts by Sherry & Bob Jason
Many decades ago Sherry and Bob Jason ‘created a non-profit organization called City Hearts, which is dedicated to bringing the arts to underprivileged children.Giving them the opportunity to experience creative arts in a way they would possibly never have the chance to. ‘Our goal was to show these children that there were other choices they could make – positive ones.’ Their letter to humanity speaks of helping young people to find their path and putting their talents to work.

In the UK both the Primary and Secondary Schools always try to introduce a steady flow of the creative arts, especially to children in low socio-economic areas, because realistically they will never get to experience them in their home life. It does give them a new perspective and opens their eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.

Rise! by Aliza Hava
Aliza’s experience with injustice was on a personal level and started very early on in her life. When she discovered music she realised the career she wanted to embark upon.She had a profound experience after reading a specific book, which changed the way she understood and embraced what she calls ‘God consciousness.’ Her letter to humanity speaks of her deep connection to her faith and her hope that others will find inspiration in her experience and words.

In My Own Voice by Deeyah Khan
Deeyah uses the phrase ‘music is my home and my exile’ to describe a doorway into her special place. Perhaps a doorway she needed, because she grew up as an outsider. I understand completely how she experienced growing up as a foreigner, outsider or as someone, who is perceived as different from the majority. Her passion to have a voice puts her life in physical danger, despite that Deeyah decides to give a voice to others.

She specifically sheds a light on the topic of honour killings that take place even when the victims live in countries, where it is clearly deemed a crime. Deeyah set up Sisterhoodnetwork.org to empower young Muslim women. Her letter to humanity is actually a very heartfelt appeal to one of these victims, an apology of sorts, because society is still not doing enough to protect them.

Connecting the Dots by Yarrow Kraner
Spending a significant time of his life bearing the brunt of the ‘anger and resentment against white people’ on a Native American reservation. He uses his negative experiences to empower others.‘Superheroes aren’t simply the characters we see on the big screen.’ His letter to humanity speaks about the ability to envision and believe.

On Tastes, the Journey and Clowning by Daniele finzi Pasca
I want to start Daniele’s segment with his poignant words ‘In the very early morning, we would pick up the bodies of those who had died during the night.’ His letter to humanity speaks about fear being so controlling that it traps us in a corner. Making use of the talents we carry in our hearts.

Putting Our Heart into The World by Patrick Gaffney
Patrick asks important questions, ‘why is it so difficult for us to think and act out of altruism and not out of self-interest.’ It describes how humans in general tend to fixate on themselves. Selfish rather than selfless. How we can improve our own self-worth, morale and positive feelings if we volunteer and help others. His letter to humanity is to leave a blank page for the reader so they can write your own Letter to Humanity.

A common thread within the people in these stories is being an outsider and/or a minority in the midst of a majority. In the introduction Gaffney points out that this isn’t supposed to be a self-help book. Instead it is a way of honouring men and women, who have dedicated their lives to helping others. Paying tribute in form of a book.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.