The Last Dance
Anmol Arora
2019
Speaking Tiger
pp. 320
The Last Dance is the debut novel by Anmol Arora. The narrative traces the life of a young Kurdish girl growing up in India. Having taken refuge in India at the peak of Turkey- Kurdistan conflict, the girl, struggles to find her identity in the time spent in India and on return to Kurdistan. The book explores many dimensions of identity development including those of developing a sense of national and cultural identity. The centre point in her life is her learning of Bharatanatyam, that she is devoted to. The challenges of learning the dance and becoming a recognised performer have also been dealt with well. There are the ups and downs of relationships, health complications and psychological dilemmas and conflicts that the book explores.
In the middle of all this, the quest for identity plays a central role but has not been explicitly fleshed out. These are subtleties that the reader has to work on one’s own. In this the author could have possibly detailed out the dimensions of identity conflict a bit more.
For a first book, it a thoroughly well researched book with a gripping story line. A good read.