Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance

Description

'If you haven t fallen in love by the end of the dance you haven t danced the tango.' So says Rosa, fiery Argentinean restaurateur, to her 19-year-old kitchenhand and bumbling dance partner Lionel. As a story of the most captivating nature unravels, their unlikely union on the dance floor develops into a bond of love and obsession - fierce and all encompassing, and so it mirrors the dance. As they dance, Rosa tells Lionel the story of her grandfather Paul Schmidt and his lover Louise. A secret love that spanned decades; from their time during the First World War hiding out in a cave on New Zealand's West Coast - to Buenos Aires, where they continue their affair, dancing the tango endlessly in her barren room. The language is beautifully crafted, the imagery strikes straight to the heart. And while the old story is being told we become aware of the uncanny parallel with the present: between Schmidt's granddaughter Rosa and Lionel the dishwasher. This is Jones at his finest.

Lloyd Jones is one of New Zealand's best known contemporary writers. He has published essays and children's books, his distinctive works including the novels The Book of Fame, winner of numerous literary awards, Biografi, a New York Times Notable Book, Choo Woo, Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance, Paint Your Wife, Hand Me Down World, The Cage and the phenomenally successful Mister Pip, winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Montana Medal for Fiction and the Kiriyama Writers' Prize. Mister Pip was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007.