Watch Us Dance by Leïla Slimani is the seductive, vibrant new novel from the international bestselling author of Lullaby and The Country of Others. Watch Us Dance is an atmospheric tale of family and individuals caught in the sweep of history, set in 1968 Morocco on the cusp of a new era.
As she stands at the window, Mathilde reflects on the opportunities before her, and all she has achieved. After the war, anything feels possible, and she is determined to celebrate it. She is blissfully unaware of what this new chapter of Moroccan history means for her family, the country and its future.
‘One of the best things about Watch Us Dance, though, is its setting, the pastoral and the metropolitan, the enthralling passages of lush description, of trees and vegetation, “a forest of tamarisk, eucalyptus and thuja”, a city that “twitched and quivered, creeping forward”. Slimani’s writing is beautifully atmospheric and has a panoramic, classic quality, excellently translated here by Sam Taylor. We are taken along the coastline of the port town of Casablanca, the beaches of Rabat and the lively social circles in between. There is a palpable love of land and people, and a pride that can be felt through the author’s tone and vivid, colourful brushstrokes. It is both convincing and enveloping.’ Financial Times
