Written as a love letter to her ageing father in his dying days, Mandy Sayer\u2019s No Dancing in the Lift paints an intimate portrait of an unconventional childhood, grief and how love plays out under painful circumstances.<\/p>\n
This memoir by the award-winning narrative non-fiction writer builds on her internationally published autobiographical work, Dreamtime Alice, in which she recounts the itinerant years spent performing as a tap dancer on the streets of New York and New Orleans with her father, jazz drummer Gerry Sayer.<\/p>\n
Sayer: personal insight<\/p>\n
No Dancing in the Lift is a vulnerable, honest and very personal insight into the final stages of Gerry\u2019s life, with Mandy firmly by his side as he battles terminal cancer. Set on the gritty streets of Kings Cross and Darlinghurst, Sayer doesn\u2019t shy away from the realities of poverty, addiction, mental illness, infidelity, drug use and isolation.<\/p>\n
From the opening sentence \u2013 \u2018by the time I arrive to clear out your flat, you\u2019d been dead 10 days\u2019 \u2013 Sayer recounts her experiences to her unconventional father, who she describes as more of a friend.<\/p>\n
The book intertwines the present with memories of past days including her Irish father\u2019s tall stories, jam sessions, rebellion and all-night parties. <\/p>\n
Sayer notes difficult times when Gerry left the family for good and her mother descended into long distance alcoholism.\u00a0Yet, her love for her father shines through regardless of her dysfunctional childhood spent in music bars and pubs. <\/p>\n
However, Sayer\u2019s urge to buck the conventions of typical adult life, marriage and suburban values remain and colour her present decisions.<\/p>\n
Her use of prose is vivid and poetic, such when Sayer writes \u2018the sky detonated into chandeliers of light\u2019 and \u2018hundreds of fruit bats glide across the bay like black silk handkerchiefs\u2019. On the flip slide, she describes \u2018elderly people lying in beds in open wards, faces with the grey pallor of uncooked prawns\u2019.<\/p>\n
Sayer: lasting love<\/p>\n
Towards the end of the book, a new story unfurls for Sayer as deep friendship turns into a joyous and lasting love \u2013 just as her father slips away.<\/p>\n
With a fearless exploration of inescapable grief as a sole carer for someone with a terminal illness, interspersed with uplifting elements, this book will resonate with anyone who has faced losing their parents with all the joy of memories shared, heartbreak and unending love shared in between.<\/p>\n