The Dancing Turtle

by A.J. Stiles

An intoxicating novel about the power of true love, set within the backdrop of a hot and sultry Brazilian summer. After a series of heart-breaking tragedies, Marcus disappears to sail around Brazil in an attempt to heal. This marks the beginning of his inspiring journey of discovery where he meets Miguel, a local fisherman, whose heroic actions save Marcus's life. What follows is the unraveling of dark past family secrets, a profound insight into the ways of the world and a love story which transcends time.


The Dancing Turtle is a memorable and evocative read which will stay in the hearts and minds of all who read it for a long time to come.



Latitude -23 and Longitude -44, pinpointed to the nearest metre by a state of the art GPS system, yet otherwise lost...



Reviews
THE DANCING TURTLE is a novel that is hard to categorize or stick in one genre, in my opinion. This first novel by A.J. Stiles is how any author wants to debut. Part travelogue, part love letter to food and Brazil, the past and the present collide under the heart-wrenching specter of war, lost love, grief, and finding oneself…all while romance and hope blooms. This book tore my heart out of my chest, ripped it up, pasted it back together, made me swoon. It was like a feast of words, every single one I could taste and smell. I will be watching for more from this author and will buy each new offering without a second thought. This is, simply put, a masterpiece. CConnor Goodreads

260 pages, ebook

Published November 17, 2019

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book via the author to read in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.
The Dancing Turtle is a beautiful story about a man called Marcus who has a very British upbringing and Miguel who is very free-spirited with a Brazilian upbringing. The book was lovely how it contrasted between each of these different characters.
This book reads as contemporary fiction with a mixture of historical fiction blended within it.
I did like the quotes at the start of each chapter but sometimes couldn't place the link between the quotes and the story. The writing is very descriptive which I did struggle with at times, however I really enjoyed this story and found it very different to other books I have so far read.
I look forward to reading more from this author.

[Chase Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE DANCING TURTLE is a novel that is hard to categorize or stick in one genre, in my opinion. This first novel by A.J. Stiles is how any author wants to debut. Part travelogue, part love letter to food and Brazil, the past and the present collide under the heart-wrenching specter of war, lost love, grief, and finding oneself…all while romance and hope blooms. This book tore my heart out of my chest, ripped it up, pasted it back together, made me swoon. It was like a feast of words, every single one I could taste and smell. I will be watching for more from this author and will buy each new offering without a second thought. This is, simply put, a masterpiece. I knew nothing of this author before we just happened to have interaction on Twitter, and I'm so glad we did. This is a story that will stay with me for a very long time.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was contacted by the author on Instagram and I really liked the sypnosis. This book is beautifully written but I feel it's too descriptive for me. I didn't understand what was going on or where the character was because it was describing literally everything. I started the book and didn't feel interested so I went back and restarted to see if it was me but I really can't get into it. I'm 12 chapters in and I can't see to get the motivation to continue reading. I'm going to retry another time and hope I can finish it to appreciate it. This isn't a review of the author but just my feelings about the book itself.

[Chase Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous, beautiful, and eloquent book!

Marcus finds himself in Brazil with literally nothing—and finds everything. His journey getting there is by turns exciting and poignant. It’s an ambitious book, written in deliciously rich, evocative prose—and a fantastic read.

c.t.h.

[Sam Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book by chance on Twitter, and without knowing what to expect, I thought I would give it a read. This book is so hard to pigeonhole in a particular niche; it crosses genres and themes from historical to psychological, from equality to environmental issues. The book is written in some amazing prose - music is a central theme and the writing reflects this as the words swoop and dive "like notes on a parchment". The central theme is of that of truth and understanding your inner universe, before the outer one can be understood. It is about a personal journey, not just the physical one of the central character on his yacht across Brazilian waters, but also the journey that the book takes the reader on; we are as integral to the story as any other character. This reminds me very much of theatre's role in "breaking the fourth wall". We are not merely passive readers; we are encouraged to feel, smell, taste, touch - the power of the detail of the writing gives the reader the impression that we are there with the main characters throughout. The plot of the book is intricate; the past, present and future flit across the pages like the workings of a real mind. The themes of the plot interconnect like the structural rhythms and patterns of nature - like a Turtle's shell spiralling in a perfect Fibonacci sequence. I massively recommend this book; it is a powerful debut from AJ Stiles - I have no doubt we will see more from this author in the future. For a book that will leave you resurfacing from under the waters and taking a massive breath of air with pure joy to be alive, I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Monica Villas Boas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsys: Marcus is an English man who, to escape the pains of a heartbreak, travels to Brazil - all by himself, leaving his family behind. There, he suffers a boat accident and ends up being rescued by Miguel, a local man. Over the weeks he spends with Miguel and his mother, Marcus rediscovers love, inspiration and a new sense of belonging, a life completely different from the sorrows and secrets of the one in lives in England. Will these weeks of his life mark him forever or simply fade away?

Review: I was interested in this book from the first moment I heard about it because it is set in my country. AJ Stiles himself spend some years and Brazil and I was pleasantly surprised at how well he described it - always being respectful to how we speak, to our names, to the food we eat and to our lifestyle in general, even paying subtle homages to the folklore of the country. I was deeply touched by these details.
The book is very descriptive, full of metaphors and phrases that feel more life poetry. You will hardly believe this is a debut novel. The story is compelling and extremly well thought - you can picure the places and emotions as if you were there or feeling that. Don't expect many dialogues: like I said, it's a descriptive book. The reason I am giving it four stars is that, at some points, I found myself going back to earlier paragraphs to try and locate myself on the storyline - it is not a linear story and sometimes it was a little bit challenging to discern present from past.
It is a good book, especially for a debut. I am certain that we will hear more about AJ Stiles in the future.

[Gabsbookshelf16 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book follows an Englishman named Marcus who ends up in a boating accident off the coast of Brazil. He is saved by a local man called Miguel. As a result of the accidental Marcus is injured and lost all his possessions (passport and money included) but Miguel’s family take Marcus in and care for him without a second thought.
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Marcus has left the UK for space and time to heal from mental wounds experienced in his past. During his stay in Brazil he becomes immersed in a new way of life and begins to feel joy and love once more. Will he return home to face past events head on? What is he running from?
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I did enjoy the story, especially when reading the relationship between Marcus and Miguel. Aspects of the book are written in Portugueses, which I thought is very unique writing style and could be a subtitle way to educate readers further.
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Although I really enjoyed the themes raised and beautiful language used in the story, I am giving the book 2/5 stars because I really did struggle with the writing style (poetic and descriptive) and structure of each chapter. Once getting used to the style I did take me a while to get into it.
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If you enjoy descriptive, poetic style, romantic novels, this is the book for you.
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My favourite quote from the book...
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“I realise that the human heart is like tree roots, buried deep within the soul, where no one can read. Body and sea–each made of water, salt and air. Both can be stormy, both can be calm.” 🐢

[Gemma Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synopsis – Marcus is an English man who wants to escape and mend his broken heart, so he travels to Brazil all by himself leaving his family behind. Once in Brazil, he decides to sail around Brazil in attempt to start healing his broken heart. On his journey, he suffers a boating accident where he ends up getting rescued by a local man called Miguel. The next coming weeks, Marcus spends time with Miguel and his mother where he starts to rediscover real love, inspiration and a sense of belonging. Marcus was finally healing from all the hurt he had faced in England.

Review – WOW WOW WOW. This book isn’t my usual read but I loved every moment of it. This book is very descriptive, full of metaphors and has a poetry feel. I love how most of the chapters begin with a famous quote by other authors which relate to the feel of the chapter.
If you are looking for a read that is full of culture, romance, heart break and finding oneself then this is the book for you. A brilliant debut novel written so beautifully, that the story will stay with me for a very long time. I look forward to reading more work from AJ Stiles.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was approached by the author to read and review this book - all opinions are my own.

I liked this book, but did have trouble with the writing style. The beginning of each chapter starts with a quote - I didn't like this. I felt ripped out of the story and discombobulated. Straight after the quote we have a paragraph or two written in italics - I hope I'm right in saying that this is from Marcus' memories of childhood. It took me a while to understand this link and similar to the quote, I felt taken away from the present storyline.

The writing was very descriptive but the sentences were very short, which for me don't go hand in hand.

Overall, despite my struggles with the writing style, I did enjoy the story.

[Josefa (June.Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcus travels by himself to Brazil, leaving everything and everyone behind. He gets there with nothing and finds everything. Well written.

[Lorna Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

⁣
‘𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵-𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘭, 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.’⁣
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This book is not generally something that I would pick up however I am so glad that I took the opportunity to read and review! ⁣
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If you’ve missed your holiday this year thanks to enemy number 1 of the world right now, then this is sure to take you there in mind rather than body. I actually felt so relaxed and as if I was on holiday in Brazil too when I was reading this. Another book so beautifully written that I felt I was there. And the food - I’m not a seafood lover but I tell you what the food is how it’s described then I’m so down for it. ⁣
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I also enjoyed the different narratives, there was a quote at the start of each chapter, as well as a having a storyline set in the past alongside the story of Marcus. At times I wondered why the retrospective storyline was relevant but come the end it all tied together so well! ⁣
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There’s also some great surprises and twists that i wasn’t expected so that’s always a bonus! ⁣

[Hannah Brunsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that you had to wait to find out every bit of information about Marcus’ past which added a layer of mystery, making me want to read on! A number of difficult and important topics which I appreciated and connected with!⁣
Personally while I enjoyed the concept, I really struggled with the writing style as it was very flowery and metaphorical, a format I know I struggle with! The style actually reminded me a lot of The Blue Salt Road and The Empress of Salt and Sorrow, two fantasy books that I really enjoyed once I got used to the writing style and just read for the story. Which at the end of the day I did really enjoy!
However, while saying that, it still wasn’t a favourite book for me, I think this was because of a mixture of the writing style, being one I struggle with, coupled with it being more of a contemporary, a genre I don’t typically read, regardless of this I still enjoyed this book!⁣
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If you like flowery, metaphorical writing and think you’ll enjoy the above summary then this might be the book for you and you should check it out!⁣ ✨𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦w✨

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book for a while, but for some reason i kept avoiding it. When i had to prepare my reading list for my vacation at the beach " The dancing turtle" was my first choice. And i don't regret it. Read it in one sitting next to the sea.

This book is like a puzzle and evey chapter is like a new piece that matches perfectly. We learn about Marcus step by step, chapter by chapter. In the end everything ties together.

Dont expect a lor of dialogue, it's a descriptive book, a love story to food and Brazil. I always respect an author who does his homework about a place and use the native language correctly.

The writing style is poetic, full of metaphors and makes everything romantic.

For a few hours i felt like i was a powerless witness to everything that happens, the good, the bad, the love.

The author put a piece of his soul in this book, and you can feel it page by page.

Why i gave it 4 stars: the timeline isn't linear, i found myself going back to try and locate myself on the storyline. I found it a bit challenging, but in the end it was worth it.

It's an extraordinary debut and an author to keep an eye on.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book's descriptive narrative - it brought to life a country that I have always wanted to visit, Brazil, in what felt like a real and genuine way. The book conveys numerous messages and themes and although it seems to narrate a man's simple journey in a linear way, it also speaks more deeply about who we are and where we are going. Some of the story's plot's flashback were confusing until the end, when all makes sense. It is indicative of the way the mind and memory works and this is a central theme. If you like books which make you stop, think and examine the path you're on, then this is for you.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard a lot about this book before it was recommended to me. Its a book that is rich in dialogue and subtleties (it is easy to miss a lot of nuance and you have to read carefully). But its a book that will leave Brazil and its characters in your heart forever. This book left me thinking about it for days after - how the plots interconnect, how the author uses the reader as a character almost, how virtually everything in the book, although small, gives a meaning. If you love intelligent books that make you think, this is the one for you.

[Book Lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dancing Turtle is not like any book you will normally come across. There is a stark contrast between Marcus and his austere British upbringing and Miguel and his carefree Brazilian spirit. I loved the setting descriptions which were cinematographic in tone, both of England and Brazil and the contrast in cultures, both modern and historic. This was one clever novel where the author has managed to appeal to lovers of all genres and all cross sections of society. It is, as intended, a truly inclusive piece of art.

[mylittlebibliothek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all about humanity, true love, war, family, grief. I like the way that every chapter began with a quote by some famous artists followed by some excerpts of some random story. It was a bit challenging to understand the plot at first but after reading few chapters I was able to understand the storyline. This was a completely different story which can restore our faith in mankind. There are less of dialogues, the story is interpreted more in a descriptive way.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly richly themed book and beautifully written. It gripped me to read it in one go.

[Emily Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cross between Life of Pii, Call Me By Your Name and Hot Milk - a voluptuous read.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so much to give...every word is a clue to piece together of the whole.

[Sarah Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - it was cleverly written and is a perfect summer read on the beach.

[JamieE · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought provoking book -it will stay with me for a long time.

[Mitchell Dufrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Dancing Turtle” by Aj Stiles. I honestly can’t put into words how this book book will sit with me for a while, and how these characters of Marcus and Miguel will just sit with me. The amount of detail that were put into writing this book is amazing. The amount of detail makes you feel like your are Marcus and you are now to see it for yourself. I also have this feeling that there is a story within a story as I read. I have really enjoyed reading this book.

Marcus is this English man that gets lost on the cost of Brazil, he gets injured, and Miguel and his family help him heal, and get better. As you read you see something blooms between the two men, and you see that there is this love blooming between them. I won’t got into much other detail, that is for you to find out as you read it.

As I sit here and type this review on my phone, this book has me thinking and looking at life and love in a different light. To be honest it’s help me believe in the world and love again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🏳️‍🌈

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5