Outside the Limelight

A Kirkus Indie Books of the Month Selection

Rising ballet star Dena Lindgren's dream career is knocked off its axis when a puzzling onstage fall results in a crushing diagnosis: a brain tumor. Looming surgery and its long recovery period prompt the company's artistic director, Anders Gunst, to shift his attention to an overshadowed company dancer: Dena's older sister, Rebecca, with whom Anders once shared a special relationship.

Under the heady glow of Anders' attention, Rebecca thrives, even as her recuperating sister, hobbled and unnoticed, languishes on the sidelines of a world that demands beauty and perfection. Rebecca ultimately faces a painful choice: play by the artistic director's rules and profit, or take shocking action to help her sister.

Exposing the glamorous onstage world of professional ballet, as well as its shadowed wings and dark underbelly, OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT examines loyalty, beauty, artistic passion, and asks what might be worth losing in order to help the ones you love. "A lovely and engaging tale of sibling rivalry in the high-stakes dance world." - Kirkus Reviews.

Author: Terez Mertes Rose
Publisher: Classical Girl Press
Published: 10/30/2016
Pages: 398
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.89d
ISBN: 9780986093432

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/0001
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2016

About the Author
Rose, Terez Mertes: - Terez Mertes Rose is the author of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles (OFF BALANCE, OUTSIDE THE LIMELIGHT, BALLET ORPHANS, OTHER STAGES) and A DANCER'S GUIDE TO AFRICA. Writing nonfiction as Terez Rose, her work has appeared in numerous journals, anthologies and online publications. She makes her home with family in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Visit her at The Classical Girl (www.theclassicalgirl.com) where she blogs about ballet, classical music and life, with twin dollops of humor and philosophy thrown in.