Ferre, Rosario

New York. 2001. Farrar Straus Giroux. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Slightly Worn Dustjacket. 0374156484. 262 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Susan Mitchell. Jacket illustration by John Martinez. Author photograph by Marion Ettlinger. keywords: Literature Women Caribbean Latin America Puerto Rico. FROM THE PUBLISHER - FLIGHT OF THE SWAN is the irrepressibly charming tale of a world-famous Russian prima ballerina touring in Puerto Rico in 1917. Because of extraordinary political upheaval at home, her troupe is forced to remain in the Caribbean for an eventful three months. During that time, Madame falls desperately in love with Diamantino, a young local revolutionary, and their passionate affair threatens the stability - indeed, the very survival - of the small, intense, and highly competitive world of the corps de ballet. Narrated by Madame's devotee Masha, FLIGHT OF THE SWAN explores the complexities of love and betrayal, of personal sacrifice for the sake of public art. Gradually Masha comes to recognize that in spite of what she sees as Madame's propensity toward pretense and vanity, the prima ballerina's true love is dance, and she is prepared to forsake almost everything for it. But Madame's tenacious commitment to this noble ideal demands nothing less from her acolytes, eventually forcing Masha to question what choices she herself is willing to make when it comes to her own loyalties and loves, while raising the question of where true happiness lies. A novel grounded in Puerto Rican history and one that soars above it, FLIGHT OF THE SWAN is at once playful, provocative, compassionate, and compelling, and confirms Rosario Ferre's reputation as ‘one of Latin America's most gifted novelists' (Edward Rivera, The Washington Post Book World). inventory #32704 ISBN: 0374156484.