Summer of The Dancing Bear

Summer of the Dancing Bear is a historical novel about the “rite of passage”of 14-year-old Kata befriended by a gypsy clan. The novel explores Kata’s search for a viable identity, acceptance of death, and understanding of love, through her journey of solving the mystery of the disappearance of a two-year-old girl that occurred when Kata was eight years old. The story evolves within a village community polarized by racial intolerance between the villagers and the gypsies, where she grows up under the tutelage of her grandmother. It is set in 1960s Yugoslavia, still reeling from the horrors of the Second World War.

AUTHOR

Bianca Lakoseljac

Bianca Lakoseljac is a novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. She is a published author of two novels, a collection of short stories, and a book of poetry. She holds an MA and an Honours BA in English Literature from York University. Bianca is the recipient of the Matthew Ahern Memorial Award in Literature. She won the Book Excellence Award for Fiction. Over a ten year period, she taught communication at Humber College and Ryerson University.

Reviews

Bianca Lakoseljac’s debut novel, The Summer of the Dancing Bear, is a mesmerizing melange of love story and mystery, as young protagonist Kata explores the unfamiliar world of the gypsy tribe that has befriended her and embarks on a quest to discover the fate of a neighbour’s missing child. Memory and magic play their roles until the shocking denouement that reveals Kata’s own family secrets and forever alters her perceptions of life as she once knew it. Engaging and original, the novel fuses history, myth, and tradition in a whimsical literary voice that reminds us that the complex and innocent humanity in us is too often haunted by human tragedy.

A mesmerizing combination of love story and mystery all rolled into one.

Engaging and original, the novel fuses history, myth, and tradition in a whimsical literary voice that reminds us that the complex and innocent humanity in us is too often haunted by human tragedy.

Tightly-plotted and rewarding. It honors the oppressed and wandering Romany tribes, effectively portraying their lust for life as well as their humanity and enlightened traditions.