The Flamenco Academy: A Novel [Paperback]

Sarah Bird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2007

“Bird captures the staccato passion of flamenco in a rapturous love triangle.”
–People

“The Flamenco Academy opens so boldly . . . that you have to wonder how [Sarah] Bird can sustain such high drama. But it quickly becomes apparent that she’s mapped her novel’s treacherous terrain and planned accordingly, building characters sturdy enough to stand firmly, even when their emotions are spinning out of control.”
–The New York Times Book Review

The first commandment of flamenco is Dame la verdad–Give me the truth. But for Cyndi Rae Hrncir, a shy seventeen-year-old, the truth is too painful to share. When Rae becomes infatuated with the devastatingly handsome flamenco guitarist Tomás Montenegro, she and her best friend, Didi, immerse themselves in the exotic world of the Gypsy dance and in the spellbinding stories told by their legendary teacher, Doña Carlota, Tomás’s great-aunt. Locked in a volatile triangle and driven by obsession–Didi with fame, Rae with Tomás, and Tomás with the mystery of his origin–the three sharpen their performances, while danger, longing, and betrayal pulse beneath each step. When a heartbreaking longheld secret comes to light, Rae is duty-bound to honor the laws of flamenco and finally reveal the truth.

“The stuff bestsellers are made of . . . [The Flamenco Academy is] funny and beautifully structured to create anticipation and suspense, with lush moments of romance and a surprisingly sturdy backbone.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Good conflict makes good fiction, and that’s what gives The Flamenco Academy such irresistible energy and narrative drive. . . . A heady brew of a novel, lushly romantic at one turn, wryly and wittily observant at the next.”
–Houston Chronicle

“A deft exploration of love, desire and jealousy told against the backdrop of that most complex of dances, flamenco.”
–Baltimore Sun

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Cyndi Rae Hrncir, 17, moves with her family to Albuquerque, N.Mex., her Czech heritage makes her an outsider. When her father, and the father of "bad girl" Didi Steinberg, both succumb to cancer, the two form an alliance that strengthens as their mothers descend into grief. Cyndi then meets the charismatic, guitar-playing Tomás Montenegro, an up-and-coming star in the flamenco world, and her life changes. She studies flamenco with Tomás's great aunt, the daunting Doña Carlota Anaya de Montenegro, who raised him. Didi joins them, and the grueling physical and emotional challenges underscore the differences between the two girls. Meanwhile, their demanding teacher reveals bits and pieces of her own past in politically roiled Spain, unlocking secrets of Tomás's heritage. The emerging triangle between Cyndi, Didi and Tomás does not hold a candle to the stunning revelations about Doña Carlota's life and extraordinary history (which would have made a much more compelling novel). But Bird (The Yokota Officers Club) delivers a story brimming with romance and visceral details of flamenco, its music and its history. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Cyndi Rae Hrncr (not a typo) loses her father to cancer and her mother to a religious cult. Fortunately, her friend Didi "Dirty Deeds" Steinberg is there to pull her through and keep her life interesting. Didi is into "groupie-ing" bands to fuel her path to stardom. She brings "Rae" along to handle the details. It is on one of these missions that Rae meets and falls instantly in love with Tomas Montenegro, a wildly handsome young flamenco guitarist. Rae becomes obsessed with flamenco dancing and culture in order to be the woman Tomas^B could fall in love with. Didi becomes enamored of the drama and passion of flamenco as exhibited by their enigmatic teacher, Dona Carlota. The passion of the dance and Carlota's stories fill the center of the novel, revealing much about flamenco, Gypsies, and New Mexican culture. But it is the beginning and end of the book, told through Rae's honest and captivating voice, that move the story and compel the reader. Hers is a voice that will resonate like a fine guitar. Elizabeth Dickie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345462386
• ISBN-13: 978-0345462381
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Outtakes from an interview that appeared in the April 2011 issue of Southern Living...

Southern Living: Are there any personal connections to this novel that you'd like to share?

Sarah: Oh, gads, there are SO many. I'll try, (and no doubt fail), to keep it brief.

In 2008, our son became a member of the largest college freshman class in history. Everything about the experience surprised me. Let's just start off with the cost. I knew that college costs had skyrocketed so we'd put aside a small fortune. We learned, however, that small wasn't going to cut it. Instead, a great walloping fortune would be required.

The next shock was discovering that in order to even be allowed to spend these breathtaking sums I would have to take on a second job as a ratings coordinator. There are over four thousand colleges and universities in this country and each one had to be parsed because, as it turns out, the college your child goes to is, essentially, a referendum on you as a parent. Are you a five-star Ivy League parent? A small, selective liberal arts college parent? A giant, state university parent? A two-year community college parent? Being a no-college parent was so far beyond the pale that it wasn't even ever mentioned.

So the getting in part surprised me. But what surprised me even more was what happened after when the empty nest loomed as a reality. I was bereft. Completely blindsided by how much it affected me.
While pregnant eighteen years earlier, I had devoured every "What to Expect " book out there. As we slogged through this college experience, I wished for a whole new slew of guides to help me through this unsettling phase. For example, was it normal to both ardently pray for the day when this grumpy stranger you've raised would vacate the premises and burst into tears in the frozen food aisle because you'll never buy pepperoni Hot Pockets again? And Real Estate Regret? Is Real Estate Regret--the constant replaying of the different lives your child would have had if you'd lived in a different neighborhood, went to a different school, had different friends--normal?

Time Travel, I knew that Time Travel wasn't normal, yet, as we approached the date of our son's departure, I was swept uncontrollably off on journeys back through the years where I'd revisit key moments in the past. Then, like Real Estate Regret, I'd create an entirely different childhood for my son in which, for example, we'd never allowed videogames. Or had been active in the Methodist church. Or the Buddhist temple. Or had owned a telescope and pursued astronomy as a family hobby. Or raised chickens. Or all made our beds every morning.

Obviously, I needed, probably still need, intensive therapy. Instead, I wrote "The Gap Year."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over, Carmen--no mere chick-lit here!, June 7, 2006

By 

Carol Dawson "Avid Reader" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flamenco Academy (Hardcover)

Not since Prosper Merimee has any novelist even begun to do justice to the world of flamenco, gypsies, and obsession with the passionate perfection that Sarah Bird applies to it here. This book, a beautifully truthful study of a skewed pairing and an entire way of being, brings both Merimee's Seville and his multiple themes into the new world and the present day, and only gains resonance and depth in the process. Instead of a smitten Don Jose, we have a poignant young woman who longs for her gypsy lover as much as she longs for the flamenco rhythms driving her heartbeat; instead of Carmen's betrayal, we have the duplicity of a painful friendship; instead of romantic Seville, we get both twentieth-century Spain AND contemporary Albuquerque. This brilliantly imagined, deeply felt, and well-crafted novel should be tops on everyone's summer reading list.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beating Hearts, June 6, 2006

By 

Glenn W. Smith (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Flamenco Academy (Hardcover)

To do "The Flamenco Academy" justice one should dance a review, not write it. Not "one" as in me, because I can't dance. Sarah Bird's book deserves a more perfect homage than I can write, much less perform en compás, so to speak.

This is a book about obsession, sex, flamenco, gypsies, art, celebrity, broken families, the Spanish Civil War, and contemporary American life with all its brutal selfishness and redemptive possibilities of freedom. Most of all, like all great stories, it is about -- it lives in and is written from -- the human, all too human heart.

It's a romance, but it's a postmodern romance. That is, "Flamenco" is about anything but escape. It follows the first commandment of flamenco puro: give me the truth. I ached for young Rae, the Albuquerque teenage girl who falls deeply in love with the tortured musical prodigy, Tomás, after a single magical (and chaste) encounter. Hell, I ached for Tomás, too, and Didi, Rae's narcissistic friend. (Didi deserves a new literary category, neither protagonist nor two-dimensional antagonist, but, maybe, pantagonist.)

I was captivated by the cave-dwelling gypsies of the tales within the tale. They are ugly, earthy, carnal, lice-ridden angels who, perversly, remain pariahs and enemies-of-states because of their fierce beauty. Then there is Federico García Lorca, the martyred Spanish poet whose cameo in the book is written with a touch the poet himself would have admired.

Bird writes with a thoroughly contemporary sensibility. This is a romance, but it's not retro. Its daring reminds me of G.B. Edwards' "Book of Ebenezer LePage", which is handy, because the late novelist John Fowles described Edwards' book in words that fit Bird's accomplishment very well. Edwards' book risked "things that no trend-conscious novelist today would care to risk his reputation on, just as in some ways it had to stay resolutely old-fashioned and simple-tongued." Edwards' book was "an act of courage," Fowles said, and that's exactly what I think of Bird's "Flamenco Academy".

This book makes me want to dance.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific contemporary tale, June 7, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flamenco Academy (Hardcover)

When her family relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, seventeen years old Cyndi Rae Hrncir feels like a stranger in a strange land as her Czech backgrounds sticks out. The loner soon suffers another blow when her father dies from cancer. Reputed "bad girl" Didi Steinberg suffers the same misfortune when her dad also dies from cancer. The paternal tragedies lead to the two disparate teens forging a special bond as they have no one to turn; both their moms are busy grieving..

After meeting rising flamenco playing guitarist Tomas Montenegro, Cyndi develops a passion for the music. She and Didi study under Tomas' legendary great aunt and guardian daunting Doña Carlota Anaya de Montenegro. As the two young females learn the demanding flamenco requirements, each makes a play for Tomas while also learning much about the Doca's past in war ravaged Spain.

This is a terrific contemporary tale that focuses on two intriguing scenarios. First the obvious romantic triangle between the students; this is well written and holds the audience attention as they wonder if friendships will end and who if either of the girls will gain the boy. However, even more interesting and refreshing is that the novel is the story of Doca; that grips the reader as few subplots can. Fans will appreciate this strong tale that pay homage to the art of flamenco music and dancing.

Harriet Klausner