Dance of the Misbegotten
By Allison Pollack Alexander
1st Books Library
August 15,2002
ISBN: 1-4033-4962-2
Mainstream Fiction

Reviewed by Susan Johnson, MyShelf.Com
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This book takes place in Emittsville, North Carolina in 1946, soon after the end of World War II. Times are hard and work is scarce, especially for a single mother with two small boys. Iona is a young mother, traveling, looking for work and running from something.

Fate leads Iona to the farmhouse door of Sam Langham, a rough-spoken farmer who reluctantly hires her to take care of his stock. His wife is extremely disapproving.

The story that follows is one of ill-fated love; Iona knows that she cannot accept the advances of Sam, a married man with a houseful of children, but she eventually succumbs to his charms.

After their affair becomes common knowledge, Iona is forced to leave. Many years later Sam goes in search of Iona, only to discover two daughters he never even knew he had. One is headstrong and stubborn like her mother. The younger is sweet and gentle and misses the love of the father she never knew. The youngest, Justine, takes horrible steps to keep her father there with them.

Truly a fated love story set in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. The scenery and the speech patterns are very well conveyed and the story moves along at a breakneck speed