It's been a while since I last went to the ballet, but I was deeply moved by a solo performance by Roberto Bolle in Los Angeles a few years ago.

The fact that ballet was such a perfect metaphor for many of the themes of feminism and femininity that I wanted to explore seemed like a lucky coincidence.

I originally imagined my protagonist as someone old enough to think deeply about these subjects, but as I wrote, I found myself dipping back into my own early teens, when I happened to be a serious ballet dancer. I wanted to write about young women, power and physicality and hadn't quite figured out what form that would take. I actually never set out to write a novel about a ballet dancer. Yes, my background in ballet was a huge part of the book, but only in a roundabout way. Was it your background as a ballet dancer that formed the foundation for the book? It's been almost ten years since your debut novel, Various Positions, was published. My Face in the Light, publishing today with Knopf Canada, was named a Most Anticipated Book by CBC and The Globe and Mail, and received advanced praise from Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud, who called it “Brilliant, provocative, and moving.”Īs a former competitive dancer, I was thrilled to talk with Martha about her background as a ballet dancer, what advice she has for aspiring writers, some of her favourite things to do in Toronto, and what books she's been reading recently. Martha's second book, My Face in the Light tells the story of Justine - a woman who feels on edge in her marriage, her theatre career, and her relationship with her estranged mother. It’s the story of a young woman owning up to the lies she’s fallen in love with, and figuring out if she can still recognize herself when she finally lets them go. Her essays, arts criticism and short fiction have also appeared in leading publications including The Walrus, Hazlitt, The New Quarterly, and Dance Magazine. Schabas was The Globe and Mail's dance critic for five years, where she also wrote about theatre and books.

It was shortlisted for an Evergreen Fiction Award and named a Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire and NOW magazine. Her first novel, Various Positions, was published to critical acclaim.

Various Positions by Martha Schabas