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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Evans' 'The Dance' Looks at Father/Daughter Relationship
BYU NewsNet 29May00 A2
By Janel Esplin: NewsNet Staff Writer
PROVO, UTAH -- Esplin reviews LDS author Richard Paul Evans' book "The
Dance," saying it "will inspire any father or daughter to ponder the way
life was for them." The book looks at the relationship of a caring father
and a dancing daughter.
Through the book, Evans follows the daughter as she dances through each
stage of her life, starting with her first carefree twirlings in the yard to
the dance on her wedding night. The father silently observes these dances,
smiling at his daughter.
It isn't until his death that the daughter realizes the significance of his
presence at each dance. While the father is near death, the daughter
expresses pain at the thought of dancing without her father watching. He
tells her that she must always dance, because he will always watch.
Esplin credits Evans with clearly describing the feelings that "only a
father and daughter can understand." She says, "Daughters will wonder what
their own fathers thought of them as they grew up. The minds of any father
will be flooded with fond memories of his own daughter's 'dances' through
life." Esplin says that the story's simple, child-like appearance belies a
story that can only be fully understood by an older audience.
Esplin also praises the paintings of Jonathon Linton, which she says,
"effectively convey each stage of the daughter's life and help the reader to
understand how the father would have felt as he watched her grow and develop
into a woman."
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More about Richard Paul Evans' "The Dance" at Amazon.com