Every year, 2.6 million babies are stillborn around the world; in Canada, one in every 125 pregnancies ends in a stillbirth. It is September 1991 and Lydia has just given birth to a stillborn child in Montreal. As she and her husband, Dr John Gabriel, grapple with its after effects, their lives and relationship come under inevitable scrutiny. Lydia, the daughter of poor Greek immigrants, fears she has failed her husband as well as his more prosperous Greek family. Their marriage had been shaky from the start and the stillbirth seriously threatens its very foundations, including John's commitment to fidelity. Tunes for Dancing Bears plunges deeply into the complexities of grief and the limits of our self regard. A touching story of family, immigration, hope, and what it really means to make a life for ourselves.

Irena Karafilly was born in the Urals but crossed several borders while learning to walk, talk, read, and write. She has lived in five countries, most recently in Greece, where some of her plots are set. She speaks several foreign languages badly, swears perfectly in Polish and Greek, and writes in English about immigrants and other outsiders. She has been largely educated in Canada, the most generous of countries, where the lack of a high-school diploma proved to be no impediment to obtaining three university degrees. While still an undergraduate, Karafilly sold a short story to Bob Weaver at the CBC and has ever since been trying to write an international bestseller so she could devote herself full time to her writing. She has worked as a secretary, administrator, editor, businesswoman, journalist, university lecturer, and writer, publishing dozens of poems and stories, while trying to survive as a single mother. Though fame and fortune remain somewhat elusive, her work has won several literary prizes, including the National Magazine Award and the CBC Literary Award. Her short stories have been broadcast, anthologized, and published in both commercial and literary magazines, in Canada and abroad. Author of six books, Karafilly has also written book reviews and other articles, which have appeared in numerous newspapers, including the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. She currently divides her time between Canada and Greece, still looking for Home.

Irena Karafilly's profile page

"Irena Karafilly has written a beautiful and moving addition to the literature of loss and grief." William Kotzwinkle, author of Swimmer in the Secret Sea

PRAISE FOR ARRESTED SONG

"I enjoyed this book immensely. Karafilly succeeds brilliantly where I had decided not to even try. A very accomplished novel." Louis de Bernieres

"A gripping, powerfully evocative chronicle of Greek island life. . .. Nothing is black and white here, least of all her feisty, iconoclastic heroine . . . hard to put this book down." Sofka Zinovieff

"Arrested Song is a wonderful novel, fully realized and absorbing." Anna Porter

"An epic, page-turning story, of longing and bravery. Arrested Song is a must read." Nadia Marks

"Beautifully written and riveting." Carol P. Christ

"Arrested Song is a highly accomplished, thoroughly researched, and compelling read." Dean Kalimniou

"One of the best novels I?ve read about modern Greece . . .. A truly original work." Diana Farr Louis

"A beautifully written, superbly detailed and addictive historical novel mostly set on the island of Lesvos. I savoured every word." Peter Barber.