AUDIOBOOK
About
"We set our sights on each other almost from the beginning."
So begins The Master's Muse, an exquisite, deeply affecting novel about the true love affair between two artistic legends: George Balanchine, the Russian émigré to America who is widely considered the Shakespeare of dance, and his wife and muse, Tanaquil Le Clercq.
Copenhagen, 1956. Tanaquil Le Clercq, known as Tanny, is a gorgeous, talented, and spirited young ballerina whose dreams are coming true. She is married to the love of her life, George Balanchine-the famous mercurial director of New York City Ballet. She dances the best roles in his newest creations, has been featured in fashion magazines and television dramas, socializes with the country's most renowned artists and intellectuals, and has become a star around the world. But one fateful evening, only hours after performing, Tanny falls suddenly and gravely ill; she awakens from a feverous sleep to find that she can no longer move her legs.
Tanny is diagnosed with polio, and Balanchine quits the ballet to devote himself to caring for his wife. He crafts exercises to help her regain her strength, deepening their partnership and love for each other. But in the years that follow, after Tanny discovers she will never walk again, their marriage is put to the ultimate test as Tanny battles to redefine her dreams and George once again throws himself into his art.
The Master's Muse is an evocative imagining of the deep and complicated love between a smart, beautiful woman and her charismatic, ambitious husband; it is the story of an extraordinary collaboration in art and in life. Title Info. Prologue
Part 1 - Polio. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Part 2 - Being Russian. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Part 3 - The Body. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
"What a rare pleasure to be introduced to Tanaquil Le Clercq through The Master's Muse. I was enchanted from the first page by Varley O'Connor's graceful portrait of this remarkable woman. How privileged we readers are to have the life in all of its strength and intelligence and elegance. Le Clercq is rendered without fuss or ornament, in a manner wholly at one with the beauty she and Balanchine strove for in their art."
"Loving Frank was a novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most scandalous love affair. The Paris Wife centered on the first Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Into this group of well-researched novelizations of famous love lives comes Varley O'Connor's The Master's Muse, about New York City Ballet artistic director George Balanchine."
"A thoroughly researched and lively
tribute to both the couple and the essence of a private, dauntless woman struck
down by polio at the height of her career."
"O'Connor's book confines itself to their sixteen-year marriage, and though the author's note suggests that she never met her protagonists, she has clearly done her homework-consulting the archives, familiarizing herself with the repertory, collecting details about the decor of their Upper West Side apartment, and the arrangement of the furniture in their house in Weston, Connecticut."
"A highly readable, absorbing
account of the interdependence between Tanaquil Le Clercq and George
Balanchine. A must read for dance fans."
"Graceful and penetrating…This passionate novel not only gives a glimpse into the ballet world of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, its eccentric characters bring the story to life."
"A masterful portrait of the woman
who served as muse not only to Balanchine but to some of the pivotal
personalities in the development of modern art. The Master's Muse reads like a troubled love letter to art, dance,
and creation-and the complexity and betrayal of a life spent in their service."
"O'Connor, the daughter of a polio survivor, has done her
So begins The Master's Muse, an exquisite, deeply affecting novel about the true love affair between two artistic legends: George Balanchine, the Russian émigré to America who is widely considered the Shakespeare of dance, and his wife and muse, Tanaquil Le Clercq.
Copenhagen, 1956. Tanaquil Le Clercq, known as Tanny, is a gorgeous, talented, and spirited young ballerina whose dreams are coming true. She is married to the love of her life, George Balanchine-the famous mercurial director of New York City Ballet. She dances the best roles in his newest creations, has been featured in fashion magazines and television dramas, socializes with the country's most renowned artists and intellectuals, and has become a star around the world. But one fateful evening, only hours after performing, Tanny falls suddenly and gravely ill; she awakens from a feverous sleep to find that she can no longer move her legs.
Tanny is diagnosed with polio, and Balanchine quits the ballet to devote himself to caring for his wife. He crafts exercises to help her regain her strength, deepening their partnership and love for each other. But in the years that follow, after Tanny discovers she will never walk again, their marriage is put to the ultimate test as Tanny battles to redefine her dreams and George once again throws himself into his art.
The Master's Muse is an evocative imagining of the deep and complicated love between a smart, beautiful woman and her charismatic, ambitious husband; it is the story of an extraordinary collaboration in art and in life. Title Info. Prologue
Part 1 - Polio. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Part 2 - Being Russian. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Part 3 - The Body. Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 5.
"What a rare pleasure to be introduced to Tanaquil Le Clercq through The Master's Muse. I was enchanted from the first page by Varley O'Connor's graceful portrait of this remarkable woman. How privileged we readers are to have the life in all of its strength and intelligence and elegance. Le Clercq is rendered without fuss or ornament, in a manner wholly at one with the beauty she and Balanchine strove for in their art."
"Loving Frank was a novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright's most scandalous love affair. The Paris Wife centered on the first Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Into this group of well-researched novelizations of famous love lives comes Varley O'Connor's The Master's Muse, about New York City Ballet artistic director George Balanchine."
"A thoroughly researched and lively
tribute to both the couple and the essence of a private, dauntless woman struck
down by polio at the height of her career."
"O'Connor's book confines itself to their sixteen-year marriage, and though the author's note suggests that she never met her protagonists, she has clearly done her homework-consulting the archives, familiarizing herself with the repertory, collecting details about the decor of their Upper West Side apartment, and the arrangement of the furniture in their house in Weston, Connecticut."
"A highly readable, absorbing
account of the interdependence between Tanaquil Le Clercq and George
Balanchine. A must read for dance fans."
"Graceful and penetrating…This passionate novel not only gives a glimpse into the ballet world of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, its eccentric characters bring the story to life."
"A masterful portrait of the woman
who served as muse not only to Balanchine but to some of the pivotal
personalities in the development of modern art. The Master's Muse reads like a troubled love letter to art, dance,
and creation-and the complexity and betrayal of a life spent in their service."
"O'Connor, the daughter of a polio survivor, has done her