Temple Dancer

by Amy Weintraub

Overview

"Gorgeous and ambitious! Temple Dancer is an unforgettable novel about a woman's search for peace--and another's desire for justice, fleshed out with rich psychological descriptions that evoke the very different cultures they live in." ~Foreword Reviews

On a crowded train in southern India, a mysterious encounter between two women-one an older elegant Indian, the other a young American artist-leads to the exchange of a dusty red book, and an appeal: You must show the world how we danced with God! Years later, on reading the lost diary, 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. The diary opens a connection across time and space between two parallel lives that include affairs of the spirit and the flesh manifest through sacred practices, through the making of art, the making of love, and most of all through love itself.

Author Amy Weintraub takes readers on a richly atmospheric journey deep into the history and magic of female sacred sexuality and spiritual transcendence. The tragic yet triumphant stories of both women are enriched by vibrant yoga philosophy and the divine enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780974738062
Publisher:	Tumamoc Press
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.65(d)

About the Author

Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP, founder of the LifeForce Yoga(R) Healing Institute, yogafordepression.com, is a pioneer in the field of yoga and mental health. She is the author of two non-fiction books; Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books, 2003), Yoga Skills for Therapists (W.W. Norton, 2012) and numerous articles and book chapters. Her evidence-based yoga protocol for managing mood is used in healthcare settings globally, offered in professional trainings, and is featured on eight audio-visual products, including the LifeForce Yoga(R) series, an award-winning library of evidence-based yoga and meditation CDs and DVDs for mood management. Amy holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in literary fiction from Bennington College and graduated summa cum laude from Boston University with a degree in English Literature. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals. She is the recipient of the Allen Tate Memorial Award for the Short Story and a finalist for the William Faulkner Award for the Novel and for the Heekin Group Foundation Fellowship for the novel-in-progress, and received second place in the Writer's Digest Writing Competition for Literary Fiction. As a prolific television producer and writer in the late 1970s and '80s, Amy was a national Emmy-Award Finalist for a documentary exposé about the shameful de-institutionalization of the mentally ill. She also won the San Francisco State University Broadcast Media Award; the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Television Documentary Presentation; and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists National Award for Community Service, among other honors.

Editorial Reviews

Amy Weintraub's astonishing new novel, evokes the power of a lost spiritual tradition through the story of two disparate women: a disgraced temple dancer from 1930s India, and a contemporary social worker in Massachusetts.... Both of the women are fleshed out with rich psychological descriptions that evoke the very different cultures they live in.... Temple Dancer is an unforgettable novel about a woman's search for peace-and another's desire for justice. Foreword Reviews

Instantly captivating! If you are interested in divine connection or just a really great read, make Temple Dancer your next favorite book! Nischala Joy Devi, author of The Healing Path of Yoga and The Namaste Effect

"Amy Weintraub's Temple Dancer is a book of wisdom earned through great suffering, deep contemplation, and real compassion." Madison Smartt Bell, author of Behind the Moon and All Souls' Rising: A Novel of Haiti

I could not put this book down. Amy Weintraub is a masterful storyteller! author of The Great Work of Your Life and The Quest for the True Self

Temple Dancer is a fascinating tale that weaves through time and memory ultimately taking the reader on an unforgettable journey of the heart and spirit. There are rich revelations and twists and turns that make it difficult to put down. It's a close cousin of Eat, Pray, Love! Katharine Merlin, author, The Private Lives of the Sun Signs and Character and Fate, the Psychology of the Birth Chart, astrology columnist, Town & Country Magazine.

This book is amazing and once I began reading it, I could not stop. Such a beautiful vignette of two lives with remarkable connections. I particularly like how real it is. Like any great spiritual story, Temple Dancer leaves one with a good dose of reality and still inspires hope and faith. Michael Lee, Founder of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, author of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy-Bridge from Body to Soul and Turn Stress Into Bliss.

I thoroughly enjoyed Amy Weintraub's Temple Dancer. It beautifully captures the emotions of the Temple Dancer "Saraswati" through the eyes of Wendy, a true devadasi herself in search of her soul. The story of Wendy is equally beautiful. While Saraswati was taught and raised to be a Devadasi, Wendy transformed into one through her experiences learning from her mistakes and taking accountability for her feelings and actions. Suba Parmar, Bharatanatyam dancer; Artistic Director, Shubanjali School of Performing Arts

In Temple Dancer - A novel, the lives of two women, apparently different, yet strangely alike are intertwined in an engrossing story which brings out the common joys, needs and frailties of people everywhere. Wendy from present-day America meets Saraswati, an Indian woman who is committed in childhood to be a dancer in a temple. This tradition (called devadasis) has degenerated through the years, yet Sarawati manages to convey her sense of pride in her art to Wendy in a way which uplifts and strengthens both women, worlds apart in terms of age, experiences and time, yet both with an inner strength which shines through. A compulsive, authentic read! Shirley Telles, MBBS, Ph.D, Director, Patanjali Research Foundation, Haridwar; Head, Indian Council of Medical Research, Center for Advanced Research in Yoga & Neurophysiology

With its thoughtful exploration of the lives of two seemingly disparate women-one a disgraced temple dancer from 1930's India, one a contemporary social worker in Massachusetts-Temple Dancer welcomes readers with a warm embrace. Elizabeth Evans, author of As Good as Dead and Carter Clay

From the Publisher