The Master's Muse: A Novel

“Loving Frank was a novel about architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most scandalous love affair. The Paris Wife centered on the first Mrs. Ernest Hemingway. Into this group of well-researched novelizations of famous love lives comes Varley O’Connor’s The Master’s Muse, about New York City Ballet artistic director George Balanchine.”– “O. The Oprah Magazine”
“The Master’sMuse is most interestingwhen O’Connor does try to get inside Le Clercq’s head. O’Connor’s writing is atits best here, too, and it’s very readable throughout.”– “Capital New York”
“A brilliant novel in memoir form, The Master’s Muse is pure magic. As I read and was thoroughly absorbed by the writing, the remarkable characters, and the story, I simply could not believe this was a work of fiction, not an authentic memoir, expertly written. The Master’s Muse is a superb performance by Varley O’Connor. From one writer to another, my hat’s off.”
–Sena Jeter Naslund “author of Ahab’s Wife, Abundance, and Adam & Eve”
“A masterful portrait of the woman who served as muse not only to Balanchine but to some of the pivotal personalities in the development of modern art. The Master’s Muse reads like a troubled love letter to art, dance, and creation–and the complexity and betrayal of a life spent in their service.”– “Slate.com”
“Choreographer George Balanchine’s fifth wife, ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq, never wrote about her relationship with her husband, but if she had we can only hope it would be as graceful and penetrating as what O’Connor portrays in [The Master’s Muse]. This passionate novel not only gives a glimpse into the ballet world of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, its eccentric characters bring the story to life.”
–Publishers Weekly
“What a rare pleasure to be introduced to Tanaquil Le Clercq through The Master’s Muse. I was enchanted from the first page by Varley O’Connor’s graceful portrait of this remarkable woman. How privileged we readers are to have the life in all of its strength and intelligence and elegance. Le Clercq is rendered without fuss or ornament, in a manner wholly at one with the beauty she and Balanchine strove for in their art.”

–Paul Harding “author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Tinkers”

Varley O’Connor is the author of three novels. She teaches fiction and creative nonfiction writing at Kent State University and for the Northeast Ohio Universities Consortium MFA program.

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