The Dancing Master by Julie KlassenMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
When Alec Valcourt, famed dancing master of London, arrives in the little berg of Beaworthy after his father's death, he never anticipated that he would be moving to the only town in England that had an unspoken rule against dancing. This is the height of the Regency era, and Alec's sole expertise is as a dancing and fencing master. His mother and sister fall under his care and Alec needs his livelihood in order to provide for them. He cannot always rely upon his uncle to care for them. Enters the entrancing Julia Midwinter, daughter to Lady Midwinter, the woman who has cast a ban on dancing upon Beaworthy. Alec not only must struggle to find work, but now he is bewitched by a woman far advanced in social status. If only the inhabitants of Beaworthy would open their doors to his tutelage, but first Alec must uncover the reasoning behind the ban, a mystery that Julia also wishes to uncover. Together, the two work together to bring dancing back to Beaworthy.
Julie Klassen made two mistakes with The Dancing Master. First, she made her hero an absolute fop who is afraid to get even the barest hint of dirt upon his person. Second, she developed a heroine who is neither gracious, compassionate, or sympathetic. The rest of the characters in her book are charming. I adore Lady Amelia, the empirical mistress Midwinter. She is misunderstood and afraid, and because I liked her so much, I found Julia's taunts against her mother to be irksome at best, and downright mean at worst. Lady Amelia is a marvelous character, and I halfway wish the book had focused on her instead of the 19-year-old infant, Julia Midwinter. Then there are the Allens: James, Walter, and Patience, who are all delightful in their own ways. Mrs. Tipple who runs the bakery in town, Mr. Barlow who is Lady Amelia's head clerk, and especially Alec's own family, his sweet mother dressed all in black and his darling sister, Aurora. But especially, I adored John Desmond. He is the type of character I love most in historic literature, slightly older than the typical hero, a little weathered and aged, but of the highest integrity. He was brilliant.
I have never tried any of Ms. Klassen's other works. And from what I hear from fellow reviewers, The Dancing Master is their least favorite of her books. So, I will not judge her writing based solely on this one novel. The 2 stars is solely based upon the hero and the heroine. There is nothing likeable about Julia, at least not for me. She is selfish, vain, and careless, and I would not associate with her in real life. Alec is also vain, thinking himself of greater importance than men who perform menial labor. He's arrogant, and he claims to be a Christian. No, I could not see it, and even Julia's "salvation experience" felt forced. Julia is bitter because of perceived wrongs, but she's really just spoiled. In a way, she and Alec deserve each other.
I have no complaints on Ms. Klassen's writing style. She is quite good, and were it not for the lead characters I would have given The Dancing Master 4 stars, and happily. I can only hope that her next book rectifies the character flaws of this one.
- I received a free copy of The Dancing Master from Bethany House Publishers via Netgalley for an honest review, which I have given.
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