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Dancing on Glass

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In the steamy city of New Orleans in 1974, Amalise Catoir sees Phillip Sharp as a charming, magnetic artist, unlike any man she has known. A young lawyer herself, raised in a small town and on the brink of a career with a large firm, she is strong and successful, yet sometimes too trusting and whimsical. Ama's rash decision to marry Phillip proves to be a mistake as he becomes overly possessive, drawing his wife away from family, friends, and her faith. His insidious, dangerous behavior becomes her dark, inescapable secret.

In this lawyer's unraveling world, can grace survive Ama's fatal choice? What would you do when prayers seem to go unanswered, faith has slipped away, evil stalks, and you feel yourself forever dancing on shattered glass?

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

20 people are currently reading
185 people want to read

About the author

Pamela Binnings Ewen

12 books239 followers
After practicing law for many in Houston, Texas, Pamela Binnings Ewen turned to writing. She lives in Mandeville, Louisiana near New Orleans. She is the author of The Moon in the Mango Tree, and five other books. Based on a true story, The Moon in the Mango tree was awarded the 2012 Eudora Welty Memorial Award by the National League of American Pen Women.

Pamela's newest novel, The Queen of Paris, will be released April 7, 2020 by Blackstone Publications. This electrifying story, based on the real life of Coco Chanel during WWII as the Nazi's occupied Paris, reveals the underside of the celebrated icon, as has never before been fully told. The Queen of Paris is available for Pre-order now.

Pamela's other novels are Dancing on Glass (a Single Titles Reviewer's Choice award), Chasing the Wind (a Top Pick for RT Reviewers), An Accidental Life, and Secret of the Shroud. She also wrote the non-fiction best-seller Faith on Trial, now in second edition.

Pamela has served on the board of directors of Inprint (Houston, Texas), The Tennessee Williams Festival (New Orleans, Louisiana) and on the advisory board of the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society (New Orleans). She is President of the Northshore Literary Society located in St. Tammany Paris, Louisiana. In 2009 Pamela received the President’s Arts Award from the Cultural Commission of St. Tammany Parish as Literary Artist of the Year.


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5 stars
26 (18%)
4 stars
47 (33%)
3 stars
50 (35%)
2 stars
12 (8%)
1 star
7 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Kate.
268 reviews10 followers
December 5, 2011
Amalise working as a waitress in New Orleans is also a law student. She meets Phillip, who is employed at the campus in the art department. Phillip, a dark and disturbing type whose interpretation of life is found within his paintings is immediately entraced by Amalise wanting to know everything about her. Her best friend Jude, a bar pilot at Pilottown has always looked out for Amalise since they were young. After meeting Phillip, Jude becomes concerned about her when she is with Phillip. As the relationship evolves between Amalise and Phillip she becomes a prisoner in his world. He is a very controlling type personality who does as he pleases but restricts her from everything and everyone she loves. The determination that Amalise has for their relationship may cost her everything that she has worked so hard for.

I was drawn to this book from the beginning chapter and it held my interest until the end. Quite impossible to put down, very well written. Excellent character development, I was able to connect with them and their story very quickly. Highly entertaining, this was a very suspenseful read and kept me guessing right up to the ending. I would highly recommend this book!!! Thank you to B&H Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC for my review.
Profile Image for Peggy.
257 reviews4 followers
August 17, 2011
This book is a well-written story centered on the topic of abuse. Amalise is a young lady going to law school and then starting her career in the early 1970's in New Orleans. She grew up in a small town with a loving family and a very happy, secure childhood. She is strong and successful in her career but is a dreamer and too trusting at times as she has never experienced the evils of life. She falls in love with Phillip Sharp, a charming, handsome "artist," and marries him. He quickly becomes overly possessive and draws her away from family, church, friends, and her faith. Although this topic can be difficult and depressing, the weaving in of faith in God and His love for each one of us helps make it easier to read. The author does a great job of portraying how abuse develops in a relationship and why a wife stays in such a relationship, hoping that things will change. The book is insightful on this topic and does provide hope for those who may find themselves in this situation.
Profile Image for Dru.
828 reviews2 followers
February 2, 2019
It was difficult for me to get into this book. It started off with a woman who met this guy. All of my red flags went off whipping in the air. Truth be told, I almost put down his book because I couldn't believe why anybody in their right mind would pursue a relationship with a man as controlling as this one. My mom convinced me to keep reading, to get a sense of why it even happens. So I did and the book slightly improved. But I still struggled. I did enjoy the book for what it is but it was odd for me, wanting to shake the characters awake to what they were doing.
Profile Image for Pam.
35 reviews5 followers
September 14, 2017
The book was good. In my opinion, it dragged about the 3/4 mark and then picked back up at the end.
5 reviews
November 10, 2020
I loved this book for how realistic it was. The ability to capture this kind of relationship is a true ability, and the ending was something much needed for me!
Profile Image for Samantha March.
1,102 reviews326 followers
July 29, 2011
Amalise Catoir is a young law student living in New Orleans in 1974. Growing up in a close knit, religious family, Amalise is somewhat naïve and a bit too trusting for the big city. While away from home, she meets Phillip Sharp, an artist, and is immediately taken by him. He is confident, a bit quiet, and charming, and when he asks Amalise to pose for a portrait for him, she agrees. During their sessions together, Amalise starts to fall for Phillip, despite his possessiveness and sometimes odd behavior. Amalise starts missing classes, her grades begin to slip, but she is in love with Phillip. When he tells her about his awful childhood and distant parents, she believes she was meant to help him, to provide him with the love and comfort that he never had. But her once safe world turns suddenly dangerous, as Phillip turns abusive, destructive, and tears Amalise away from her work, friends, and family. Can Amalise somehow escape Phillip, or will her choice to love become fatal?

Dancing on Glass by Pamela Binnings Ewen is a story that will make you hold your breath while you flip the pages. The story surrounding Amalise and Phillip will suck you in, and the exquisite writing and detail of New Orleans will make you feel as though you are there with the characters. It was difficult to read about abuse, especially when Phillip was obviously bad news from the beginning. Even without reading the synopsis, you know he is a violent man. It was hard for me to see why Amalise was drawn to him in the first place. She is portrayed as a very naïve girl, who could walk in a dark alley at night and not think anyone would attack her, but it was still a little tough to believe. And the ending made me positively want to scream at this girl- no spoiler’s here- but possibly that is what the author wants us to take away from the story? She certainly made me feel and brought up a lot of emotions while reading. I did enjoy the side story regarding Amalise’s career as a lawyer- which was very different for women back in the 70’s. Overall, I did enjoy the book and thought it was beautifully written, but it was tough to swallow some of the main plot points. I would still recommend it if you are looking for a deeper read, and be sure you can handle tough scenes with physical abuse.
Profile Image for Julie Graves.
982 reviews37 followers
March 20, 2011
Amalise Catoir is a law student in New Orleans. She works at a cafe to support her continued education. Having been raised in a quiet bayou town she enjoys living in the busy city.

She meets Phillip Sharp one day when she steps into an art gallery to get out of the rain. He is showing his paintings. Although his paintings disturb Amalise she is drawn to Phillip. He wants to paint Amalise. She is drawn to him and determined to love and protect him from his pitiful childhood.

Even though Amalise is warned by her best friend from childhood Jude, she is determined to pursue her relationship with Phillip. She enters into a hasty marriage with him. Even before she marries him there are signs of Phillips dark moods. He and Amalise attend church together a couple of times but Phillip is not interested. Amalise feels that if she loves him enough and gives him time that he will eventually come to church.

Once Amalise graduates from law school she is offered a job with a law firm in New Orleans. As a new lawyer she is expected to put in long hours and attend many parties. Phillip is not happy with the long hours nor is he happy to attend the parties with her. He keeps tabs on every hour of her day. He wants to know where she is at all times and with whom she is with. Soon he not only is manipulating Amalise with his words, but he also resorts to violence causing Amalise to tread lightly when she is with him.

Hiding Phillips true character from her parents, Jude and her co-workers, Amalise has nowhere to turn but to her Abba Father. Things soon fall apart when Amalise finds Phillip with another young girl. Determined to leave him she packs for a business trip telling herself that she will never go back to him. This action sends Phillip over the edge and the consequences are devastating.

This was such a well-written book. I was invested in Amalise’s character. I felt frustrated with her that she couldn’t see Phillip’s true character. But the author does explain how Amalise was manipulated. Although the subject of the book was dark the author was able to show how God can and will forgive us our mistakes and give us new life.

Profile Image for Chickadee.
527 reviews
May 13, 2011

Based on the subject matter alone, I didn’t expect to enjoy this book so much yet once I sat down with it and started reading, it ended up blowing me away! Although it took me a few pages to get into the story, it really started to get interesting by the third chapter.

Dancing on Glass is the chilling story of Amalise Catoir, a sweet young law student who falls hook, line and sinker for a loser. Set in sultry New Orleans in 1974, Amalise falls head over heels in love with a smooth talking (con)artist named Phillip and eventually marries him.

In many ways this story reminded me of Sleeping With The Enemy in that a sweet innocent woman falls for a man who seemingly adores her, yet quickly she discovers that his love and devotion is obsessive, abusive and controlling.

Although I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Amalise, she also frustrated me to no end. For being so intelligent, she ignores her gut and all the little warning signs about Phillip that keep popping up along the way! And THEN she marries him!

Phillip’s charm continually overrides her good sense and she ends up completely changing herself to fit into his mold. Amalise takes submission to the far end of extremes and attempts to please Phillip’s ridiculous, controlling demands. By the middle of the book, I was completely on edge from the tension and suspense. By the latter part of the book, I was reading furiously to find out how it all would end.

Amalise, trying to hide the truth from her friends, family and co-workers, struggles through law school and then her first job as a clerk in a law office, while behind the scenes she’s becoming more entangled in Phillip’s dangerous web. Phillip’s mood swings terrify her and she feels isolated and alone – which is just how Phillip wants it. His chameleon personality makes Amalise feel like she’s losing her mind at times – and his ever changing moods makes him completely unpredictable.

Hold on for a ride you soon won’t forget – Dancing On Glass is an amazing thrill!



778 reviews57 followers
July 31, 2011
Dancing on Glass by Pamela Binnings Ewen
Contemporary Novel –Aug. 1st, 2011
4 stars

Amalise Catoir is a law student who works part time as a waitress to pay for her schooling. Spurred by an encouraging and loving mother, she has big dreams of becoming a lawyer. She wants to serve the people like her father, a provincial judge. When she meets a mysterious painter, Philip Sharp, who also teaches at the same university, she feels a strange and powerful attraction to him. Her childhood friend, Jude, dislikes Philip. He thinks that there’s something disturbing about Philip. Will Amalise heed her family and Jude’s warning? Will Philip replace Jude in Amalise’s life?

This is a dark and disturbing story about a girl who is emotionally manipulated by a twisted person. Philip is elusive and chameleon like. Even Philip’s paintings are disturbing! Even though Jude and Amalise’s mother dislike him, they can’t quite figure out what’s wrong with Philip. Although I know that this is a dark book, it is difficult to read on as Amalise gets drawn into Philip’s web. At one point the was a violent incident which occurred to the heroine and I just couldn’t read on. And the sad thing is, there’s nothing Amalise can do against Philip’s psychological onslaught; it is akin to a rabbit defending itself against a wolf.

Dancing on Glass is definitely not a romance. Instead, it’s insightful and frightening read on how even the strongest person can get caught in emotional trap.

Reviewed by Pauline from the Bookaholics Romance Club
Profile Image for Kathleen (Kat) Smith.
1,613 reviews94 followers
August 16, 2011
Finding herself drawn to a collection of abstract paintings in a local gallery in town, Amalise finds herself connected to the women in the paintings. When the artist, Phillip, asks her for her honest opinion about them, she doesn't hold back which he finds refreshing. She finds herself not only haunted by the paintings themselves but also by Phillip as she sees him on campus at college where she is studying law, but also in her thoughts and dreams.

When Phillip shows up unexpectedly outside her job at the bar, she is both drawn to him and concerned by his appearance. At first he tells her that he was exiting a play at a theater that just closed but later learns that the theater wasn't even open that day by another local artist she refers to as Mouse!

What kind of power does Phillip hold over Amalise and just what is she willing to risk to have him in her life? It may just be that the power he holds will pose a danger that she didn't see coming!!

I received this book, Dancing on Glass compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was drawn by how much Amalise was willing to overlook her common sense for feelings of acceptance and love by Phillip. Too often many women find themselves in a similar situation but from this perspective, we can see how easy the lure is through Amalise's character in the novel. I would rate this book at 4.5 out of 5 stars! The beginning is a little slow but once you get through the first couple of chapters, it just takes off!
Profile Image for Katie.
Author 2 books129 followers
December 23, 2011
About half way through, I lost the desire to keep reading. The main character, Amalisa, is such an idiot. She hooks up with a guy who is shady, and every time anything questionable arose or anything, she'd excuse it away. Even when he began controling her, she always just had an excuse. It was plain as day that the guy was just using her, but she still stayed with him. Even when he began beating her!! Drove me crazy!

After the halfway mark, I started skimming a bit, reading all the abuse. This is not a book for younger readers. Another thing that really bothered me about this book was that Amalisa lets the guy move in with her before they even entertain ideas of marriage...and she has little to no guilt about it. And she claims to be a christian. That's just wrong, and I didn't read anywhere that she felt guilt about it or that she knew it was wrong. When she worried about it, it was usually just because she wondered what her parents would say if/when they found out the guy was living with her.

All in all, I would never pick this book up again to read. I could barely make myself finish it. There might've been a lot of great lessons...but I couldn't see it because I was so frustrated or upset with Amalisa. Jude was awesome, though! LOVED that guy!
Profile Image for Casey.
432 reviews114 followers
August 13, 2011
I think I understand abuse victims a little bit better after reading this book, which is what, I think, the author was aiming for, though she did it without preaching at me.

There are some books I connect with as a reader and some books I don’t and I’m afraid this is one I don’t. At the beginning, the characters drew me in and I wanted to cry out for Amalise to not go with Phillip. But of course she couldn’t hear me and she continued to flounder deeper and deeper, lost in the hope she could make a change in this man’s life.

I know many readers would become fatigued with Amalise for not walking away, but I thought she was well portrayed and I could emphasize with her soft heart. That doesn’t mean I agree with what she did, I’m completely against it and the reader should be. I believe the book makes that clear.

But neither the writing style nor the story sank its tentacles within me and wanted to keep me reading. I did finish the story and the ending brought good closure for the situation, but this book wasn’t for me.

I think it will help abuse victims or people who know abuse victims, but the target audience was missed on me.

This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for providing a copy to review through CFBA.
Profile Image for Sally.
907 reviews40 followers
November 27, 2011
This was a very difficult book to read. Nor is it your usual Christian fiction, despite being published by a Christian company. In fact, at times, it didn't read at all like a Christian novel. Amalise is smart, but she acted so very naively. You wonder how she could have possibly believed Phillip over Jude. Can love really be that blind? I'd have also liked to have read more about the aftermath. Did Amalise have nightmares? Did she still feel like Phillip was watching her? The book made it appear like recovering from such an ordeal is easy, but in reality the psychological damage Phillip inflicted would be long term.
36 reviews
August 14, 2013
Several times in this book I thought to myself "Didn't I just read this?" How many times she blamed herself! Amalise is a beautiful character I love her ambition and hard work. She is smart and adventurous, living in the French Quarter. It wasnt believable that she fell for Philip. I stopped reading this book 3 times because she was making such dumb choices. And then the influence of Aba? She seemed so strong in her faith and that uprooted her too. Ah it was making me so mad.

I really liked The Moon in the Mango Tree, but this? This was something else.

Though I will go ahead and read the Chasing the Wind and see if that is something more I can appreciate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kara.
256 reviews3 followers
March 31, 2011
I had a hard time getting into this one until about halfway through...definitely not an uplifting read! Well-written, and I stayed up late because I had to know how it ended, but I just found it a frustrating, depressing story. I do have to say that the author did a great job with the character development and writing, though. It just wasn't a story that I enjoyed.
Profile Image for Nora St Laurent.
1,654 reviews115 followers
July 8, 2015
Disclosure of Material Connection: #AD Sponsored by publisher.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”
Profile Image for Anino .
1,069 reviews71 followers
April 6, 2012
This book really makes you think about the price that you pay when you make a wrong turn in life.. Ama life changed for the worst when she made an unplanned stop into an Art Gallery one afternoon. From there, it just goes haywire with her heart and with her head.. Makes me glad that I'm no longer 21... Interesting read and a great study of crazy human behavior...
Profile Image for Alida.
640 reviews
July 30, 2013
I've often wondered how women get trapped in an abusive relationship. Amalise is a very bright young, Godly woman, who gets sucked into just such a scenario. This book would be a good book club selection.
Profile Image for Dorothy.
73 reviews7 followers
October 24, 2011
A very sad story about man abusing woman. It is probably so true in some lives but hard to believe people actually live with that kind of abuse. I probably won't recommend this book.
Profile Image for Barbara.
Author 197 books174 followers
February 28, 2012
A fantastic story about how easy it is for even a smart woman to fall into the trap of abuse. The pacing bogged down a little toward the end, but overall, a terrific read.
Profile Image for Kristen.
489 reviews20 followers
July 11, 2012
A somewhat disturbing novel addressing the topic of emotional abuse and manipulation. Crazy stuff. But I'm into reading about that kind of stuff, you know. ;)
35 reviews
January 4, 2015
The author seems to be able to write well, but other than the nice descriptions of the bayou and such, I was bored stiff wanting something to happen. This book drug on for eons!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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