The Rope Dancer [Paperback]

Roberta Gellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1986

Carys' livelihood depends on her agility, beauty, and balance. But the nimble rope dancer finds herself grounded with a twisted ankle, and at the complete mercy of a minstrel who values nothing more than his freedom. As war is brewing, the two will undertake a dangerous journey that will push their skills-and their love for each other-to the edge of destruction.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roberta Gellis is the bestselling author of over 25 novels in different fields. New York Times best-seller John Jakes has called her a superb storyteller of extraordinary talent; Publishers Weekly has termed her a master of the medieval historical. Her many awards include: The Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books and the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, several Romantic Times book awards and also their Lifetime Achievement Award.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jove Books (September 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515085936
• ISBN-13: 978-0515085938
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,863,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roberta Gellis has a varied educational background--a master's degree in biochemistry and another in medieval literature--and working history--10 years as a research chemist, many years as a free-lance editor of scientific manuscripts, and more than 40 years as a writer. She is married--to the same man for over 60 years (no mean feat in these days) and lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with her husband Charles and a lively Scottish terrier called Zoe. She has one child, Mark, who teaches Rhetoric (a fancy name for expository writing) at Kettering University in Michigan. Mark is married to Sandra and they have a lovely daughter, Elizabeth.

Gellis has been a successful writer of historical fiction, publishing over 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. The best known of these are The Roselynde Chronicles (ROSELYNDE, ALINOR, JOANNA, GILLIANE, RHIANNON, and SYBELLE). The series has been reprinted many times since its first appearance in 1979, most recently in 2006. Gellis has also been the recipient of many awards, including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, The Romantic Times Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period (more than once) and Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy, as well as Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Acheivement Award.

More recently Gellis has ventured into other genres, starting with mythological fantasy (DAZZLING BRIGHTNESS, SHIMMERING SPLENDOR, ENCHANTED FIRE, BULL GOD, and THRICE BOUND). Most recently she has written historical fantasy, with a series of book coauthored by Mercedes Lackey set in Elizabethan times (THIS SCEPTER'D ISLE, ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT, BY SLANDEROUS TONGUES, and AND LESS THAN KIND). Before that she was writing historical mysteries, a four-book series set in London and Oxford in 1139 (A MORTAL BANE, A PERSONAL DEVIL, BONE OF CONTENTION and CHAINS OF FOLLY) and one set in the Italian Renaissance in Ferrara (LUCREZIA BORGIA and the MOTHER OF POISONS).

Since Gellis is one of the early addicts to electronic readers---she purchased a RocketeBook way back in 1999---it is no surprise that she was eager to get her own out of print historical romances into electronic format. Cerridwen Press (http://www.cerridwenpress.com) has published the Heiress Series (THE ENGLISH HEIRESS, THE CORNISH HEIRESS, THE KENT HEIRESS, FORTUNE'S BRIDE, and A WOMAN'S ESTATE) as well as the Royal Dynasty Series (don't ask me about that, there isn't a royal or a dynasty in any of the four books---it was a notion of a long-ago agent) SIREN SONG, WINTER SONG, FIRE SONG, and A SILVER MIRROR. Cerridwen offers a variety of formats, one of which can be read by the Kindle and for those too firmly addicted to paper, the books are also available in a very nice Trade edition (but those are rather expensive).

I'm sorry I don't have any amusing anecdotes to relate, as recommended by the Profile, but a writer's life is really very quiet. Sometimes my neighbors ask my husband what has happened to me because they haven't seen me in such a long time. Depending on his humor of the moment, sometimes Charles tells them that I can't come outside because he keeps me chained to my computer---but that isn't true. He lets me get up once in a while.

Roberta Gellis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can a Rope Dancer, a Dwarf and a Minstrel Bring Down a Lord?, February 3, 2003

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rope Dancer (Paperback)

The time is the twelfth century in England. Carys is a rope dancer who had once been part of a successful troupe of traveling players. While they were welcomed because of the entertainment they provided, they are also outcasts because they do not have a master.

When the story opens the troupe has been disbanded. Carys' latest protecter has just been killed. Carys herself is threatened with rape and murder by the men at arms of the lord in whose hall she was dancing and she is forced to use all of her wits to escape.

Alone and destitute, she is found by two men traveling together-- Telor, a minstrel, and Deri, a dwarf. As a minstrel who entertains in lordly halls, Tedor, the son of a respectable burgher, is of higher social status than Carys or Deri although Deri was once a respectable settled man himself before misfortune reft him of wife and home. Tedor is on his way to visit his old teacher, the Welsh bard Eunion.

But events of this turbulent time have overtaken the manor where Eunion was living under the protection of an amiable lord, and Telor, Carys and Deri become involved in a lively adventure where their lives are at stake.

Gellis does her usual excellent job of drawing the reader into her medieval world. The afterword is definitely worth reading because she lays out there some of her philosophy about writing historical novels. This book is one of her best. The unusual characters and lively action mean that there is nothing in the least dull about this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rope Dancer, June 15, 2004

By 

sara (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rope Dancer (Paperback)

A non-typical historical romance novel. Telor the minstrel, Deri the dwarf and Carys the rope dancer are the main characters in this story, which I found interesting and very, very different from many other historical romance novels I've read. This is also the first book by Roberta Gellis I've read.
I enjoyed how these characters are not the typical heros one reads about in books like these. Carys and Telor are defined as not being classically beautiful, and they are of the lower class. But this does not make the story duller than a typical story of gorgeous nobles. It's quite the opposite. This book has action and suspense in it that, honestly, I found more interesting than the inevitable romance that ensues. The descriptions of the characters' performances are also really fun to read.
This book can be rather dark, which I appreciated, focusing more on the struggles and hardships, both emotional and physical, that characters in this time and of this class would endure.
Carys is a non-typical heroine. I liked the fact that she was not as "inexperienced" as most romantic heroines are in this genre. I liked her confidence and her ability to survive independently and defend herself.
Highly recommended. Definitely not a typical "glittering, begowned lady and her muscled, tanned knight" story, and all the better for it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite historical!, October 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rope Dancer (Paperback)

The main persons are for a change simple people like you and me. Time period: King Stephen, setting: England. The hero is a minstrel, the heroine the ropedancer of the title. A very important figure is the supporting 'hero', a dwarf. I had this book for ages and reread it at least once a year. After lending it to a friend, it is now making the rounds and I just hope I will get it back sometime. This is one book I really miss.