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'Gayle and Sonya are a study in contrasts: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will be turned upside down when they impulsively join a belly dancing class. Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone begins to change. Gayle, crippled by the secrets at the heart of her marriage, is forced to face who and what she has become; the seriously single Sonya begins to explore her isolation from her family; and even Marissa, accustomed to seeing other women changed by the dance, must finally confront a horrifying event from her own past. And then there are the men in their lives: Oliver, deeply confused about why his politically correct attitude to women never quite seems to work; Brian, blissfully unaware that he's sailing towards the rocks; and Frank, who's battling his own demons. Belly Dancing for Beginners is a warm-hearted, moving, and often outright funny story of what can happen when women and men are brave enough to reveal who they really are.' (Publisher's blurb)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille.
- Also large print.
Works about this Work
-
Getting Noticed : Images of Older Women in Australian Popular Culture
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 2 no. 2010; 'Despite the fact that women over the age of 45 buy more books than any other demographic group they rarely feature as the central characters in Australian popular fiction. When they do appear it is usually in minor roles where they are characterised in negatively stereotypical ways. This paper argues that by ignoring older women as subjects and consumers, creators, producers and publishers of the products of popular culture fail to provide realistic and sympathetic representations of older women thus rendering them invisible to themselves and to others. It includes a case study of my own attempts to address this representational black hole through the writing and publishing of five novels in the genre of feminist realism, focused on the lives of women between the ages of 50 and 85. It records the success of these books in the commercial publishing market place where they are now all Australian bestsellers and two have reached the top ten fiction on the NeilsenBookscan.' (Author's abstract) -
Untitled
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Wet Ink , Winter no. 7 2007; (p. 53-54)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
This Week's Selections
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 2 December 2006; (p. 12)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
Women Come Out of the Margins
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 4 November 2006; (p. 9)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
The Face
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14-15 October 2006; (p. 3)
-
Women Come Out of the Margins
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 4 November 2006; (p. 9)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
This Week's Selections
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 2 December 2006; (p. 12)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
Untitled
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: Wet Ink , Winter no. 7 2007; (p. 53-54)
— Review of Belly Dancing for Beginners 2006 single work novel -
The Face
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14-15 October 2006; (p. 3) -
Getting Noticed : Images of Older Women in Australian Popular Culture
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Studies , vol. 2 no. 2010; 'Despite the fact that women over the age of 45 buy more books than any other demographic group they rarely feature as the central characters in Australian popular fiction. When they do appear it is usually in minor roles where they are characterised in negatively stereotypical ways. This paper argues that by ignoring older women as subjects and consumers, creators, producers and publishers of the products of popular culture fail to provide realistic and sympathetic representations of older women thus rendering them invisible to themselves and to others. It includes a case study of my own attempts to address this representational black hole through the writing and publishing of five novels in the genre of feminist realism, focused on the lives of women between the ages of 50 and 85. It records the success of these books in the commercial publishing market place where they are now all Australian bestsellers and two have reached the top ten fiction on the NeilsenBookscan.' (Author's abstract)
- Perth, Western Australia,
