by Juhea Kim
Juhea Kim writes a impressive novel which reflects intimate knowledge of professional ballet and Russian culture. “City of Night Birds” is a work of art, a beautiful book to read. The lead character of Natalia Leonova is so carefully and realistically constructed to the degree that I felt her emotions and, at times, could not separate them from my own.
Kim’s writing is splendid as well. From the first page I knew this would be an extraordinary novel. It is 2019, Natalia is returning to St. Petersburg and the Mariinsky Theatre following an extended leave of absence from ballet due to an injury:
“Outside the rounded window of the plane, the lights of St. Petersburg glimmer through the clouds. I remember then that it is the White Nights. Descending from the gray heights, the earth looks more like the night sky than the sky itself, and I have the brief sensation of falling toward a star field. I close my eyes, breathe, and reopen them slowly. The city is utterly familiar and unknown at the same time, like the face of someone you used to love.”
The metaphor continues brilliantly through the next paragraph, and I was invested in this story.
The plot develops in two time periods, 1992 and 2019. In 1992, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Natalia is living in a government apartment with her single mother who is a costume seamstress for the ballet. There is very little joy in her world, but Natasha delights in dancing and jumping incredibly high. Natalia believes that she was “not born to be a dancer,” but she knows she has the ability to jump higher than the other children. She also discovers at a young age that she has the undeniable desire to pursue her dream of greatness.
Natalia’s relationship with her strict and seemingly miserable mother is strained, and she has difficulty making friends. She does not particularly seek romantic relationships and is focused on her life’s work. However, relationships form between herself and her male dancer-colleagues, complicated by their long hours of working together and apart, and the constant nearness of the other members of the ballet. A touch-and-go deeply moving pas-de-deux does not last.
“City of Night Birds” is a ballet story, a love story, a story of recovery, and a story of nations in political conflict. On the deepest level it is a story about the beautiful resilience of the human heart. I was drawn to this book initially by two personal connections; I had a brief foray into ballet as a child, and I loved it. Secondly, I visited St. Petersburg in 1996 during the same post-Soviet period in which the character Natalia grew up. It was a sad city of over-grown lawns with no flowers, blocks and blocks of once-stunning gold-detailed cathedrals gone to decay after years of neglect due to communist rule, and the strongest poor people I had ever seen. Juhea Kim’s words do justice to this city.
“No matter how great a work of art is, it comes to an end. In fact, in order to be great, it must end. But life never comes to an end. When one thread is knotted, even when another is broken, it continues weaving together to an everlasting music, so that the whole of it can only be seen from the height of infinity.” Juhea Kim from City of Night Birds.”
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