When the Music changes...So Does the Dance

When the Music changes...So Does the Dance 1

by Margaret Gerada
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date: 01/09/2014
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This is a memoir set in the 60s when life was simpler, yet at the same time more complex. When a young country girl, eldest of seven children from a loving catholic family, at the tender age of 20, marries a local boy she is blissfully unaware of what the future has in store. Her life is turned upside down when she discovers her husband is homosexual. In the 60s little is known about this subject and it is not discussed in public: myths and ignorance surround its existence. Consequently there is no help for those affected. The resulting secrecy and shame make life a nightmare for them both, eventually leading to tragedy. The journey she goes on is difficult on many levels, particularly emotionally at a time in Australian history when the subject of sexual difference is neither tolerated nor discussed. The courage she displays as she tries to determine the problem with her marriage and then cling to the inevitable impossibility of this union is heartbreaking, not only for herself but her husband as well. This secret they share results in the two of them being isolated from each other and other people, in fatal circumstances. The ensuing loneliness, hardship and incomprehension is raw and honest, building up to the final tragedy. Margaret’s story of how she survived the unmentionable cloud that threatened her marriage and her serenity and became the strong person she is today is told with warmth and humour. It is remarkable in its acceptance and lack of bitterness and gives an absorbing picture of the social mores of the late 60s and early 70s.

ISBN:
9781483534442
9781483534442
Category:
Memoirs
Format:
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe)
Publication Date:
01-09-2014
Language:
English
Publisher:
BookBaby

This item is delivered digitally

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When The Music Changes… So Does The Dance is a memoir by Australian author, Margaret Gerada. It is nineteen-sixty when convent high schoolgirl Margaret first meets a sophisticated young man, an enthusiastic ballroom dancer. A year or two later, she encounters him at a local dance: he’s polite, always a gentleman, has a good job, and so a relationship develops which involves plenty of dancing. Soon they are engaged, and in 1964 they marry, looking forward to a life full of promise. How then, could it all turn so sour? Just a few years into marriage, Margaret has a mostly absent husband, two young children, and is struggling to make ends meet.

Gerada’s memoir is an honestly told account of a marriage that was challenged by a situation which, in the present day, would garner plentiful counselling and support; with the societal taboos of the late nineteen-sixties, it had to be faced alone; this was what Margaret bravely did. This is a memoir that will resonate with readers familiar with the late nineteen-sixties, but younger readers will also find it interesting, moving and even informative. An inspiring read.

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