Publication Date: January 21, 2025
Elaine Neil Orr, born in Nigeria to expat parents, brings us an indelible portrait of a young female artist, torn between two men and two cultures, struggling to find her passion and her purpose.
It’s 1963 and Isabel Hammond is an expat who has accompanied her agriculture aid worker husband to Nigeria, where she is hoping to find inspiration for her art and for her life. Then she meets charismatic local singer Bobby Tunde, and they share a night of passion that could upend everything. Seeking solace and distraction, she returns to her painting and her home in a rural town where she plants a lemon tree and unearths an ancient statue buried in her garden. She knows that the dancing female figure is not hers to keep, yet she is reluctant to give it up, and soon, she notices other changes that make her wonder what the dancing woman might portend.
Against the backdrop of political unrest in Nigeria, Isabel’s personal situation also becomes precarious. She finds herself in the center of a tide of suspicion, leaving her torn between the confines of her domestic life and the desire to immerse herself in her art and in the culture that surrounds her. The expat society, the ancient Nigerian culture, her beautiful family, and even the statue hidden in a back room—each trouble and beguile Isabel. Amid all of this, can she finally become who she wants to be?
Elaine Neil Orr’s Dancing Woman sets out to consider the point of view of a woman feeling overlooked in the 1960’s. Isabel leaves the US to follow her husband to Nigeria as he shares his great purpose of demonstrating agricultural methods. But what is her purpose?
Upon their arrival, Isabel finds even her direction as a wife is different in this new country. She must have a male house manager, and she is limited in how she must conduct herself in public. Her fumbling to learn the culture and form friendships creates loneliness. Isabel is an artist but feels unsure of herself and hopes for inspiration in her new surroundings. Inspiration comes quickly in two forms: a night with a musician who seems to deeply understand her soul and an unearthed terra-cotta statue that may bring an ancient message to Isabel. Both of these bring new joy to her but also pose a threat to all she thought was safe.
As the reader, I want to understand all that the author intended. I certainly felt Isabel’s frustration of not being seen and later the fear and pain of losing what was most dear to her. The novel included cultural turmoil that added depth to the story, and I could reasonably follow. However, Orr’s literary style was often puzzling to me. Repeatedly, it felt as if bread crumbs were being left to think deeper in some scenes, and I could imagine that with the guidance of a professor or maybe a book group, I could have deciphered more.
Dancing Woman features an ancient terra-cotta figurine and the repercussions of one night of passion that both hold power over an American expat longing to find purpose in Nigeria. 
Elaine Neil Orr is the author of five books, including the novels A Different Sun and Swimming Between Worlds. She was born and grew up in Nigeria, the daughter of missionary parents, and most of her writing is grounded in both the American South and the Nigerian South. She is a professor of literature at N.C. State University and serves on the faculty of the Brief-Residency MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University. She lives in Raleigh.
