Paula Saunders’ new novel is “Starting from Here.” It is a portrait of a young woman striving for greatness. It is 1973 Rapid City, South Dakota, at the center of a family struggling to keep afloat is René, a young girl whose dream is to become a dancer. With the support of her mother, Eve, whose own dreams has been dashed by life’s many demands. René is sent to train alongside stick-thin sculpted girls in Phoenix, then onto Denver, and beyond.
Encountering along the way a sequence of eccentric and sometimes dangerous characters: creepy dads, mean girls, predatory radio announcers, kindly ex-opera singers, sham teachers, and cult-leaders all on this journey that will transform her from the inside out.
“Starting from Here” is a story of facing the challenges and terrors of girlhood. Drawing upon details from her own life, including leaving home as a young girl to study ballet, Saunders weaves a coming-of-age saga that both takes us back to the 70s and yet seems current today.
