Margery Blandon was always a principled woman who found guidance from the wisdom of desktop calendars. She lived quietly in Gold Street, Brunswick for sixty years until events drove her to the 43rd floor of the Tropic Hotel. As she waits for the crowds in the atrium far below to disperse, she contemplates what went wrong; her best friend kept an astonishing secret from her and she can't trust the home help. It?s possible her firstborn son has betrayed her, that her second son, Morris, might have committed a crime, her only daughter is trying to kill her and her dead sister Cecily helped her to this, her final downfall. Even worse, it seems Margery?s life-long neighbour and enemy ? now demented ? always knew the truth. There Should be More Dancing' is a story of Margery's reckonings on loyalty, grief and love.

About the Author

Rosalie Ham was born, and raised in Jerilderie, NSW, Australia. She completed her secondary education at St Margaret's School, Berwick in 1972. After travelling and working at a variety of jobs (including aged care) for most of her twenties, Rosalie completed a Bachelor of Education majoring in Drama and Literature (Deakin University, 1989), and achieved a Master of Arts, Creative Writing (RMIT, Melbourne) in 2007. Her first novel, The Dressmaker was published in 2000. Her second novel, Summer at Mount Hope was published in 2005. Rosalie has also had stories published in Meanjin, The Age, The Bulletin and Invisible Ink. When she is not writing, Rosalie teaches literature.

Reviews

On the 980th day since her son Walter’s last drink, Margery’s family takes her to the glamorous Tropic Hotel to celebrate her 80th birthday. It’s actually her 79th birthday but she doesn’t let on. Margery has had a lot to put up with lately. Her grasping daughter and son-in-law want to sell her house so they can put her in an ‘elderage facility’. Her delinquent, grudge-bearing neighbour keeps stealing her fence palings for kindling. And to top it off, her new home help has foisted an old floozie onto her. At the Tropic Hotel Margery is planning to fling herself from a balcony, but there are a lot of people in the atrium below and she doesn’t want to spoil their day. While biding her time in her hotel room, Margery looks back on her life, convinced of conspiracies that have kept her in the dark for years, and full of grievances. However, introspection and the eventual family confrontation lead to an unexpected outcome. Rosalie Ham revives some wonderful old phrases: things are ‘not much chop’, and many of Margery’s sentences start with ‘anyrate’. A cast of memorable characters and Ham’s sly humour make this an entertaining read, and fans of her previous novel The Dressmaker won’t be disappointed. Heather Dyer is the owner of Fairfield Books in Melbourne