Madeleine Hutchinson is in a rut. From the outside, she seems pretty together. So why does she feel like her marriage is a cage? And when she meets Hugh, a gorgeous younger man in her Latin American dancing class, she discovers an irresistible chemistry. She's torn: part of her yearns to be closer to Hugh; another part fights it.

Forty-one-year-old Madeleine Hutchinson is in a rut. From the outside, she seems pretty together: she has a responsible, caring husband, two healthy boys, and she's starting to make a few friends after the family's move from Chicago to Melbourne. So why does she feel like her marriage is a cage, and why does she feel so invisible? Lost one rainy Melbourne evening, she catches a glimpse of a couple dancing in a warmly lit studio. The next day something is unleashed inside and she decides to start Latin American dancing. From the first lesson, she's hooked. When she dances, she's neither wife nor mother, she's just herself. And when she meets Hugh, a gorgeous younger man in her class, she discovers an irresistible chemistry. Or is it? As Maddie is drawn closer to the thing she thinks she wants the most, her life begins to unravel. She's torn: part of her yearns to be closer to Hugh; another part fights it, knowing an affair would destroy her family. Maddie is forced to work out who she really is, and what she really wants from her life.

Review
DANCING BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS is an insightful exploration of one woman's journey of being a wife, mother and resident in a new country struggling with her identity. [Weekly Times]

Written with panache and flair, this charming story captures that loss of identity that can come with marriage and children. [Australian Women's Weekly]

Christine Darcas has had numerous articles and short fiction published both here and overseas. She is a freelance writer for WARCRY, DANCEtrain and Business Franchise Magazine. She is currently enrolled in the Masters in Creative Writing program at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Although American born and raised, she and her family are now permanent residents of Australia. In addition to her writing, Christine is passionate about Latin American dancing, achieving Gold Star level and recently winning the Level 3 Masters division at the 2007 Victorian Championships.