Temple Dancer

A Novel

By: Amy Weintraub

Narrated by: Daisy Fair

The woman beside her on the train was elegant, ethereal, mysterious, and determined. When Wendy opened her eyes, she was alone. The woman was gone and a dusty red book was in her place. The woman's appeal still rang in her ears. "You must show the world how we danced with God!"

Temple Dancer, a novel of awakening and connection, spans the distance of time, space, and culture through the parallel lives of Saraswati, a young Indian temple dancer in the 1940s and Wendy, an unfulfilled artist living in contemporary New England. On a crowded train in southern India, a strange encounter leads to the exchange of a dusty red book, with a mission. Years later, on reading the lost volume, Wendy is transported on an unforgettable journey into the ancient and erotic world of the revered devadasi, a world of dance and devotion, music and mysticism, restraint and release, shame and disgrace. Like a double helix, their lives intertwine. opening the portal to spiritual transcendence through the making of art, the making of love, and most of all through love itself.

Temple Dancer is a lush listen and a richly atmospheric journey deep into the history and magic of female sacred sexuality and spiritual transcendence. The tragic and triumphant stories of both women are enriched by compelling yoga philosophy and the divine enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.

©2020 Amy Weintraub (P)2021 Amy Weintraub

the audio made the temple Dancer come to life

Having read the book I was not at all sure the audio would add much. I was quite mistaken. From the first sentence of the audio book I felt the Temple Dancer come alive. When the scenes of India were articulated I could almost smell the spices roasting.

I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to both read and listen it granted me the depth of understanding I do think I could have received from just one or the other.

The author seemed to be divinely inspired to write Temple Dancer, and because of this we are transported back in time to the glorious days of the Davadasi.

A story from a literary master

As well as one of the most widely regarded yogis of our time. I have taken many trainings with Amy and read her books, and thought that when her number was published, I would buy it, sure. Most people are capable of being exceptional at one endeavor, maybe two, but not — three— as in yoga, yoga as psychotherapeutics, and literature. There is so much vivid storytelling there, and so much sympathy for the situation of women across time in cultures. I first read the paperback version, and then got the audible book, which brings it into 3-D. I can't wait for the movie!

Suspenseful and Educational

I rarely write reviews but this book deserved one! I also don't read many fictional novels because my brain prefers non-fiction and has trouble keeping focus on stories unless they are exciting and suspenseful. Temple Dancer is exactly that! It got my attention from the very beginning and kept my attention until the end. The reader had a pleasing voice and cadence. Not at all robotic or nasally like some others. Even though it is fiction, it had real information in it about the culture and the treatment of women that is really happening! That made my brain happy to be learning new things. The last fictional book that gave me this much enjoyment was Memoirs of a Geisha. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes adventure, suspense, and learning!

Temple Dancer

This book was mesmerizing.I totally enjoyed the diary story.The current day yoga,etc was just filling space for me. Daisy Fair was a really good narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Twice is not enough

Rarely has a book so completely transported me to another time and place. I have now both read and listened to the book; and will soon revisit for a third time. History comes alive as you see life through the words of the Temple Dancer. This book will help bring understanding to the limited choices women had in the not too distant past. You will understand why becoming a devadasi was an act of divine devotion and often a wise choice for women. Don't miss the author's notes at the end as it brings home the continuing plight of many poor women today. This book will expand your mind!

Beautiful writing kept me absorbed

Two mismatched threads, one contemporary, one distant, are intricately woven into a suspenseful tale of passion and loss, mystery and transformation. Crossing time, culture, and tradition, the lives of two women, both spiritual seekers, both conflicted, are bound together in this fascinating novel. Detailed descriptions of the life of Saraswati, the temple dancer in the story-within-a-story, are compelling and illustrate the author’s devotion to research and highlight her vivid imagination.

Not enough Temple Dancer

I am on Chapter 5 and it is 90% about relationship with her husband. I do not know if I can stand it any longer. Think I will send it back. The small part in the beginning about the temple dancer was interesting. I just can't get through the boring boring boring stuff about ex husband and their fights.

Historical fiction with a whiff of the esoteric

I requested and was fortunate to receive a complimentary copy of Temple Dancer. The narration was very good: The Northeast American upper middle-class accent of the contemporary protagonist contrasted perfectly with that of the young temple dancer in late 1940s India. The story was. . . in all honesty, I'm a bit flummoxed. I think we are supposed to take away the idea that yoga is good, marriage and motherhood are difficult, India's independence brought cultural loss as well as gain, and that the memory of an ancient religious tradition shouldn't be forgotten. This is all delivered in a dual-time strand narration that engages the listener's interest in the fate of young Saraswati, who has as much self-determination as a piece of dust blown around by the wind until she meets and is loved by a local royal who seems to understand her true worth, and less so in a modern, almost 60-year-old American woman who is stumbling along her own spiritual path while reading what may or may not be Saraswati's diary. And in the end, that's really all there is. So while I appreciated the glimpse into a world I knew little about, I was left still hungry after a buffet of crudités.