A City of Night Birds was one of the books my friend’s bookclub chose as the “romance” pick of the season. Although, truth be told, what I adored about this story was that the romance had less to do with the relationships between couples; it was more like the relationship between an artist and their artform.
A City of Night Birds tells the tale Natalia Leonova, a prima ballerina in Russia facing depression and an identity crisis after a fateful incident rips her ability to dance away from her.
Highly poetic and beautifully metaphorical, it is a story artists know too well: the seemingly impossible balance of the self, art, and the world beyond. What should be sacrificed for the sake of honing one’s craft? Can one sacrifice their craft for the importance of familial and societal obligations? Do we lose ourselves as artists to our work, or do we become the art? Does the art erase the rest of us?
This is a book meant to be read carefully and slowly so as not to miss the rhythmic metaphors for Natalia’s mental and physical states. If a reader skims through the book, many ideas and reflections can get lost. The language is marvelous for reflecting on one’s own relationship with their art.
This one is definitely one of my favorite books this year.
