What Disappears
Two women who are complete strangers come to face to face in the dressing room of the prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, in 1909, and realize they are identical twins. To Sonya the discovery is an answer to her prayers. Jeannette, however, is horrified to find out that her life has been a lie. The worst part for her is learning that she’s Jewish, a shocking discovery when you’ve been raised as an anti-Semite. The story then leaps backward and forward in time, from Paris to Russia and back, tracing the lives of these two women as they try to come to terms with what their separation has cost them.
Sonya is the heart of the novel. She’s a gentle and loving wife and mother as well as a talented seamstress, but she isn’t perfect. A moment of recklessness with the fashion designer, Paul Poiret, leaves her with a burden of guilt, made even worse because Jeannette is his lover. Jeannette is a more difficult character to reckon with. She’s angry and unforgiving, a frustrated ballerina who never quite achieves the greatness she desires. The tension between what these women want and what they ultimately get leads the reader through pogroms and floods, heartbreak and transformation. Poiret plays the role of both savior and destroyer.
The jumps in time, place, and character point of view can be jarring, and the ending is strangely abrupt. However, I was charmed by the lovely writing and the glimpses into the imagined lives of famous creators such as Poiret, Pavlova, and Sergei Diaghilev. Quick’s depiction of the demimonde during the Belle Époque proves to be an enjoyable and immersive read.
