Tunes for Dancing Bears

Every year, 2.6 million babies are stillborn around the world; in Canada, one in every 125 pregnancies ends in a stillbirth.

It is September 1991 and Lydia has just given birth to a stillborn child in Montreal. As she and her husband grapple with the after effects, their lives and relationship come under intense scrutiny. Lydia, the daughter of poor Greek immigrants, fears she has failed her husband as well as his more prosperous Greek family. Their marriage had been shaky from the start and the stillbirth seriously threatens its very foundations, including John's commitment to fidelity. Tunes for Dancing Bears plunges deeply into the complexities of grief and the many challenges of being a woman. A touching story of family, loss, immigration, hope, and the real meaning of for better or for worse.

Irena Karafilly is an award-winning author of several acclaimed books and of numerous stories, poems, and articles. She has published in literary and mainstream magazines, as well as in The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune . Her short stories have won Canada's National Magazine Award and the CBC Literary Award. Her previous novel, Arrested Song, was a finalist for the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. She divides her time between Montreal and Athens.

ISBN: 9781771863810
Format: Paperback
Pages: 242
Publisher: Baraka Books
Published: May 01, 2025

"The story is told without sentiment and without judgment. There is simplicity of style and an observational quality to the entire work. As we read the shattering beginnings to the journey of Lydia and John, we wonder what the outcome might be in a year's time, while drawing strength from the hints of beginning hope. A well-researched and compelling story." Anne Smith-NochasakThe Miramichie Reader"Irena Karafilly has written a beautiful and moving addition to the literature of loss and grief." William Kotzwinkle, author of Swimmer in the Secret Sea"Tunes for Dancing Bears explores an avalanche of emotions in this novel about grief and marriage. Irena Karafilly takes us into a world of ineffable loss. This book will move you." Kim Echlin, award-winning author of The Disappeared and Speak, Silence PRAISE FOR ARRESTED SONG "I enjoyed this book immensely. Karafilly succeeds brilliantly where I had decided not to even try. A very accomplished novel." Louis de Bernieres"A gripping, powerfully evocative chronicle of Greek island life. . .. Nothing is black and white here, least of all her feisty, iconoclastic heroine . . . hard to put this book down." Sofka Zinovieff"Arrested Song is a wonderful novel, fully realized and absorbing." Anna Porter"An epic, page-turning story, of longing and bravery. Arrested Song is a must read." Nadia Marks