Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Marina is born of privilege. Her mother, Sveta, is the Soviet Union's prima ballerina: an international star handpicked by the regime. But Sveta is afflicted with a mysterious second sight and becomes obsessed with exposing a horrific state secret. Then she disappears.

Fearing for their lives, Marina and her father defect to Brooklyn. Marina struggles to reestablish herself as a dancer at the American School of Ballet. But her enigmatic partner, Sergei, makes concentration almost impossible, as does the fact that Marina shares her mother's "gift," and has a vision of her father's murder at the hands of the Russian crooks and con artists she thought they'd left behind.

Now Marina must navigate the web of intrigue surrounding her mother's disappearance, her ability, and exactly whom she can—and can't—trust.

  • Creators

  • Series

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Levels

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 24, 2013
      Debut novelist Kiem’s title pays apt homage to John le Carré while delineating the roles 17-year-old ballerina Marina plays throughout this dark, complicated book. Opening in Moscow with Brezhnev’s death in November 1982, the story soon moves to the “Russia by the Sea” neighborhood of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Marina and her father escape there following the State Psychiatric Directorate’s institutionalization of her mother, Sveta, a celebrated Bolshoi dancer, who had a vision of a terrible past event the regime must keep hidden. Leaving behind a privileged lifestyle for a cramped, impoverished existence in America, Marina and her father cannot shake the suspicion and danger Sveta’s vision put them under. As Marina struggles to learn English, make a place for herself in the dance world of Lincoln Center, and acclimate to American teenage life (while keeping her identity secret), she is tormented by anxiety over her mother’s fate. The story is heavy and sometimes difficult to follow, but Kiem successfully creates the mood of the oppressive, fearful state of Communist Russia that persists outside its borders, and builds levels of intrigue that lead to a devastating climax. Ages 14–up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:700
  • Text Difficulty:3

Loading