She was the Globe and Mail's dance critic from 2015 to 2020, where she also wrote about theatre and books. Her first novel, Various Positions, was shortlisted for an Evergreen Fiction Award. Martha Schabas is a novelist and critic based in Toronto. VARIOUS POSITIONS MARTHA SCHABAS Doubleday Canada ILLUSTRATION OMITTED Of the worlds Martha Schabas explores in her debut novel, Various Positions, I'm not sure which is more volatile, stressful or heartbreaking: the prestigious ballet academy, where perfection is a crushing prerequisite, or the mind of a 14-year-old girl, whose obsession with meeting those twisted ideals ultimately unravels.

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It's the story of a young woman owning up to the lies she's fallen in love with, and figuring out if she can still recognize herself when she finally lets them go. In psychologically astute prose full of provocative insights and gem-like sentences, My Face in the Light is a moving exploration of truth in art and identity. As the contradictions and complications of leaving one's life behind swell to the point of crisis, Justine must confront the collateral damage of a traumatic past she has long repressed. She begins to toy with the idea of throwing away the life she is expected to want for the allure of something she can't quite grasp. After a disastrous audition in London, England, a chance encounter with a stranger leads to an unorthodox business proposition that would allow Justine to abandon Toronto indefinitely.

An intuitive and uncanny mimic, distinguished by a pronounced scar across her forehead (the result of a childhood accident), Justine has made acting the centre of her life since she was a teenager, but lately her seemingly charmed off-stage life in Toronto has begun to ring false. Justine feels uneasy in her marriage, her theatre career and her relationship with her estranged mother, a famous painter. Martha Schabas trained in classical ballet as a child.

Various positions by martha schabas