Book Review: Dancing With Gravity By Anene Tressler

Title: Dancing With Gravity

Author: Anene Tressler

Anene’s Twitter: twitter.com/#!/AneneWrites

Anene’s Website: anenewrites.wordpress.com/

373 pages

Publisher: Blank Slate Press

Buy The Book: Amazon

From The Publisher:

Father Whiting is asleep in his own life. As a St. Louis priest and the head of Pastoral Care at a local teaching hospital, he’s already on edge wondering if he’s up to the job and wondering how far his predecessor’s–and now his–secretary will go to sabotage him. He is fatigued by his mother’s increasingly erratic behavior, fears he is incapable of ministering to an old friend and fellow priest stricken with cancer, and secretly longs to share everything about his confused, mixed-up life with the very attractive Sarah James, the hospital’s head of public relations. When he overhears a heated argument between the Chairman of the Board and the Abbess who runs the hospital, he fears his job will soon be history. Instead, he finds himself tapped to minister to a small Central American circus bequeathed to an order of aging nuns in St. Louis. Through his deepening relationship with Nikolai, the enigmatic trapeze artist, Whiting wakes to his loneliness, realizes he has been living a half-life, and finally finds the courage to be the man he was meant to be.

In Dancing with Gravity, Anene Tressler, an Emmy Award-winning writer, paints an unforgettable portrait of the grand and petty motivations of the human heart.  Her poignant exploration of lost, unrecognized and courageous love will prompt you to consider your own journey toward purpose and fulfillment.   (Summary provided by Blank Slate Press.)

My Thoughts:

Anene Tressler’s novel Dancing With Gravity deals with many themes: love, isolation, grief, responsibility, and religion. Through  Sam Whiting’s inner monologue the reader quickly learns that the priest has reached a sort of turning point in his life in addition to suffering from severe anxiety. Second guessing and analyzing the smallest of conversations with his colleagues, the priest seems to be on the brink of a breakdown through much of the book. Whiting’s struggles with relationships and his new job assignment are brought to life for the reader through his anxiety’s frustrating lens.

At times shocking and at other times eloquently understated, Tressler’s tale of Whiting’s  journey of self-discovery while tending to the spiritual needs of a circus is both unique and engaging. On more than one occasion I was brought to tears by Tressler’s descriptions of events in Whiting’s life over course of the book; and her descriptions of the Circus of The Little Flower’s performances were so detailed at times that I felt like I was in the audience of the quaint one ring circus.

As a Catholic, I have often wondered what it must be like for a priest to live a life of celibacy and service to the church. Dancing With Gravity affords the reader an  intimate look into the confusion, isolation and loneliness that may sometimes accompany the life of a person who has given his life to serving God. I have a much deeper appreciation for my parish priest after reading Anene Tressler’s novel.

I want to thank TLC Book Tours for including me in the Dancing With Gravity blog tour. Be sure and check out the other stops on the tour:

Monday, April 4th:  Well Read Wife

Wednesday, April 6th:  This That and the Other Thing

Thursday, April 7th:  Suko’s Notebook

Monday, April 11th:  Raging Bibliomania

Wednesday, April 13th:  Rundpinne

Monday, April 18th:  Life is Short. Read Fast.

Tuesday, April 19th:  Simply Stacie

Wednesday, April 20th:  Day by Day in Our World

Thursday, April 21st:  Overstuffed

Monday, April 25th:  Book Club Classics!

Wednesday, April 27th:  Musings of an All Purpose  Monkey

Thursday, April 28th:  Book Addiction

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