A Time to Dance [Paperback]

Melvyn Bragg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1992

A novel which recounts the passion of a retired bank manager for a solicitor's 18-year-old secretary. They meet when she wins an essay competition of which he is the judge, and the novel is in the form of a letter to her. The author's previous books include "The Maid of Buttermere".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A punctilious, retired English banker in his mid-50s falls obsessively in love with a spunky 18-year-old Irish girl, Bernadette Kennedy. To his amazement, his mad passion is reciprocated. For the nameless narrator, the affair represents "one last chance for love," an escape from tending to his bedridden wife, Angela. For Bernadette, brainy but a dropout, their clandestine companionship and long lovemaking sessions in England's Lake District help to overcome the trauma of having been raped at age 13. Bragg, novelist ( The Maid of Buttermere ) and biographer of Richard Burton, weakens this partly epistolary novel by telling most of it through the voice of the self-centered, self-deluding narrator. When the affair comes crashing down to earth as several ironies separate the lovers, the quirky story is transformed into something deeply touching, tragic, heartfelt and fine.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This slow-paced, introspective novel by the prolific British author ( Richard Burton: A Life , LJ 2/1/89) chronicles a middle-aged, retired bank manager's infatuation with a teenager he meets when she is awarded a literary prize. Their backgrounds are completely different: he rather patrician with a wife who is dying of cancer, she from an Irish family known mostly for its drinking. Passion overrules good sense, and they become lovers. Complications arise: he becomes suspicious of her, then leaves when his wife (whom he realizes he loves) becomes sicker. Much of the narrative is in the form of extremely long, convoluted letters, but the language and events hold the reader's interest. While not a page turner, it is thoughtful and provocative. Recommended for general purchase.
-Robert E. Greenfield, formerly with Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 207 pages
• Publisher: Sceptre; New edition edition (January 2, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340568488
• ISBN-13: 978-0340568484
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,941,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love me tender, August 11, 2005

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time to Dance: A Novel (Hardcover)

This novel is in the form of a long letter from a 54-year-old man to his 18-year-old lover. At first it sounds like the man is more in love with love than with Bernadette, his lover. He is also married, not necessarily unhappily either, though his wife is ill and soon (conveniently for the plot) dies. But before that happens, Bernadette becomes pregnant,and the story deepens from that point on. He and Bernadette decide to see each other while his wife is ill, though he continues to care for his wife with much love and tenderness. Bernadette tells him she will wait for him, and she does. Some of this comes across as just a tad too pat and unmessy - too idealistic - but Bragg is an excellent writer, and it's impossible not to find this book interesting: he pulls you right into the story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A STORY OF "LOVE IN WHISPERS", January 14, 2004

By 

MONTGOMERY (WASHINGTON, DC - U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time to Dance (Paperback)

This is a well-written, beautifully evocative story of an illicit, thinly veiled relationship between a retired bank manager and an 18-year old young woman in the North of England in the late 1980s.

On the face of it, this story evokes reminders of Nabokov's "Lolita". Yet, as "A TIME TO DANCE" unfolds, the reader sees the blossoming of a relationship between a retired bank manager (who remains nameless) and Bernadette Kennedy, a young lady from a socially disadvantaged background who first comes to the attention of the retired bank manager through an essay she had submitted to a literary contest sponsored by the Rotary Club to which the aforesaid retired bank manager belonged.

Impressed by the quality of Bernadette's essay, he helps carry the winning vote for her. It wasn't until a little later in the story that he meets Bernadette for the first time to congratulate her for winning the top prize, and by degrees, their relationship grows and deepens.

Later in the story, complications develop in the relationship, which cause it to break up.

While this is a story of a love between 2 people from different generations, it is also a very deeply affecting human drama. "A TIME TO DANCE" will leave the reader with nary a dry eye, seeing how it is that Love on a very personal level can broaden and enrich our everyday lives.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She hated Sherry, May 6, 2008

By 

R. Bagula "Roger L. Bagula" (Lakeside, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Time to Dance: A Novel (Hardcover)

At first this book reminded me of Of Human Bondage (Signet Classics) or Lolita By Vladimir Nabokov, but he seems to have avoided the pit falls in this novel.
It is more like star crossed lovers by the end:
the older man and the brilliant young girl he loves.
It has depth and full flowering of passion and experience.
It is better written than the history by Melvyn Bragg that got me interested.
It pretty much covers a lot of bases in the love affair area:
Love, obsession, deception, romance, infidelity.
It is certain;y one of the best novels I have read lately.
It even has suggested reading: William Hazlitt's Liber Amortis.