Gayle and Sonya are a study in contrasts: one reserved and cautious, the other confident and outspoken. But their very different lives will be turned upside down when they impulsively join a belly dancing class.

Marissa, their teacher, is sixty, sexy, and very much her own person, and as Gayle and Sonya learn about the origins and meaning of the dance, much more than their muscle tone begins to change. Gayle, crippled by the secrets at the heart of her marriage, is forced to face who and what she has become; the seriously single Sonya begins to explore her isolation from her family; and even Marissa, accustomed to seeing other women changed by the dance, must finally confront a horrifying event from her own past.

And then there are the men in their lives: Oliver, deeply confused about why his politically correct attitude to women never quite seems to work; Brian, blissfully unaware that he's sailing towards the rocks; and Frank, who's battling his own demons.

Belly Dancing for Beginners is a warm-hearted, moving, and often outright funny story of what can happen when women and men are brave enough to reveal who they really are.

"Byrski's forte is getting inside women's heads and hearts" - Australian Women's Weekly Book of the Month

About the Author
Liz Byrski is the author of seven novels and a number of non-fiction books, the latest of which is Getting On: Some Thoughts on Women and Ageing. She has worked as a freelance journalist, a broadcaster with ABC Radio and an advisor to a minister in the West Australian Government. Liz has a PhD in writing from Curtin University where she teaches professional and creative writing.