Girl Through Glass

November 9, 2015
Wilson’s debut novel begins in 1977 and centers on Mira Able, an 11-year-old straining to push through the physical and emotional demands of the New York City ballet world. It’s an ambition complicated by her parents’ lack of interest in ballet and unraveling marriage, and further complicated by Maurice, an older, disabled man interested in Mira and her future as a ballerina. Meanwhile, interwoven in alternating chapters is the present-day story of Kate, a dance historian and professor who, after sleeping with a student, is compelled to seek
closure from her mysterious past in New York. Wilson’s premise and structure could have been disorganized and dull
in less deft hands, but the story is a uniformly engrossing look into the fabled world of hypercompetitive 1970s ballet. Mira and Maurice’s relationship has the fairy tale feel of Beauty and the Beast, but the pages brim with the realism of the gritty, crime-riddled New York, especially as the plot ricochets toward a surprising, and bittersweet, merging of Kate’s and Mira’s stories. Wilson writes lovingly of ballet and elevates the coming-of-age story with a dark undercurrent about the cost of obsession. Agent: P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

December 1, 2015

Wilson's debut novel is an engaging tale of ballet, obsession, and consequences. In 1977 New York, 11-year-old Mira is a dancer escaping the chaos of her home life in the disciplined world of ballet. Within three years, she grows into a potential star, getting key performance roles and becoming one of the few dancers handpicked by George Balanchine for greatness. She also attracts the attention of Maurice DuPont, a 47-year-old ballet fanatic looking for a muse. Then Mira abruptly disappears from that world. The book is told in alternating narratives: Mira in gritty Seventies New York, and Kate, a dance professor in the Midwest, in the present. Kate's shaky academic career is interrupted by a letter from the past, from a man she had thought was dead. Her return to New York uncovers truths she'd been avoiding for years. VERDICT This is an absorbing novel, rich with detail both about ballet and New York. Alongside the unusual setting of Mira's realm of dance are the more familiar emotional struggles of a young woman dealing with adolescence, complicated by precocious talent. Recommended for readers who appreciate complex characters and a carefully crafted style.--Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2015
Weaving the stories of budding ballerina Mira Able and floundering dance historian Kate Randell, first-time novelist Wilson joins their lives through one singular, shocking situation. Mira, an adolescent in 1970s New York, magnetizes ballet aficionado Maurice, an urbane, Svengali-like impresario who takes her under his wing, resulting in a coveted admission to George Balanchine's School of American Ballet. Her parents' divorce and mother's feminist sensibilities leave Mira adrift and vulnerable to Maurice's increased attention and her own dawning sexuality. In the present day, Professor Kate Randell is on track for a prestigious Pell grant when the arrival of a cryptic message from her past catapults her into an inappropriate relationship with a student and a journey to resolve issues from her childhood. Mira's abrupt abandonment of a promising career and Kate's discovery of a crucial link to a long-buried trauma coalesce in a fiery denouement that cauterizes the open wounds created by misplaced trust. The result is a nimble, nuanced psychological drama that leaps through time and place with an appropriate and assured agility. Once a ballerina herself, Wilson speaks with vibrant authority and acute vulnerability as she exposes the conflicted and competitive behind-the-scenes world of professional ballet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)