Remember the Tarantella
Remember The Tarantella is a remarkable work. It's learned and frivolous, female not feminine, silly and serious. Written in several strands of narrative, the many characters create a space as if reading were a dance party. Story is not the main objective. Private conversations and thoughts are always within earshot of the rhythm of others, like the stamping of feet and the beat of the music. This is concerto-like poetry; many instruments of different tones assist the reader to know who is who.
2011 | ISBN 9781876756932 | Paperback | 204 x 132 mm | 300 pp
Reviews
Moorhead’s novel then, is a major achievement by anyone’s standards. Its expansive scope and its complex yet intricate structure sets it apart from much of the more mundane mainstream literary activity in Australia during the late eighties. It is to be hoped that the next few years will see it receive the recognition it deserves – both in Australia and overseas.
—Mark Roberts, Rochford Street Review
Remember the Tarantella is a complex book in which the various strands weavelike the spiralling threads of a helix (and characters do move from centre to margin) … it opens a door for adventurous writing in Australia.
—The Age
Moorhead's open-ended novel explores an amazing range of female experience, employing realism, symbolism, and magic while resisting the temptation to wish-fulfillment and closure.
—Patrick Holland, glbtq.com
Finola Moorhead's Remember the Tarantella is ... a strongly optimistic cluster of female myths, in beautiful prose, whose interweaving narratives and characters entice and delight.
—Jeff Doyle, The Canberra Times
Clever, mannered and defiantly dikey.
—The Guardian (UK)
Moorhead has written a passionate and many-layered novel.
—John Hanrahan, The Times on Sunday
A visionary and questing novel of startling energy, intelligence and passion, its form shaped to its own image, it is the work of a major writer.
—Helen Daniel, Sydney Morning Herald
Tarantella receives my highest recommendation. It is warm and fun and can awaken us all to fresh possibilities, whether or not we are lesbians. Unless you are too conventional to rise to its challenges, do read it. I love this book and can’t wait to read it again and discover what I probably must have missed the first time.
—Me, you and books