Background
Cooney, Ellen was born on August 20, 1952 in Clinton, Massachusetts, United States. Daughter of Wilfred and Viola (Garofoli) Cooney.
( In her third novel, Ellen Cooney tells a story about th...)
In her third novel, Ellen Cooney tells a story about the creative process, and about how art can and must happen anywhere and everywhere, including a small mill town, outside the academy and outside the confines of the art institutions of the city. In a world of corporate homogeneity and the mass-marketization of culture, the story of Mrs. Kamsky is emblematic of the independent voice and the creative spirit, the little artist that could. Grieving the defection of her protge and recovering from a hip injury, Mrs. Kamsky unexpectedly renews her passion for life and for dance when she teaches a class of teenage boys, including one who's recruited for ballet lessons as punishment for breaking a classmate's leg in anger. Ellen Cooney tells a story about the artistic drive to create, alternately narrated by the central character's closest friends, her loving and demanding students, her discontented protge, and her inquisitive neighbors. With prose that performs pirouettes and plis, The Old Ballerina tells a story about teaching and learning, the individual and the community, and above all, the healing power of the arts. "Light and lovely, Cooney's third novel (after Small Town Girl and All the Way Home is about the way one superb ballet teacher, indomitable, aging Irene Kamsky, touches the lives of her students and alters her community. From a dance studio in her ranch-style home, located in a suburb north of a nondescript town, she and her art shape the stories of many characters, each narrating his or her own chapter in this slender novel. Among the unpretentious ballerina's admirers (all refer to her, respectfully, as Mrs. Kamsky_ are her devoted assistant, Margaret Dunlap, who gets the job under false pretenses, but learns to love her employer, doing everything from caring for Mrs. Kamsky's arthritic hip to monitoring her record collection; tortured Lisette, Mrs. Kamsky's legendary student, once a serious ballerina until foot injuries forced her to become a teacher herself, and who drinks to drown her sorrows; and Mrs. Kamsky's current class of "boy ballerinas" who describe, in first-personal plural, their feelings before and after their first public performance. While its plot is sli
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566890861/?tag=2022091-20
(Charlotte Heath, a lively, independent redhead of humble ...)
Charlotte Heath, a lively, independent redhead of humble beginnings, is married to the scion of the powerful Heath family. When, on her first outing after a long illness, she spies her husband, Hays, bending to kiss another woman in the village square, impulsive Charlotte heads her horses straight out of town. Upon arriving at The Beechmont Hotel, Charlotte makes a shocking discovery: The classy Beechmont is a rather unique institution where a different kind of hospitality awaits the all-female clientele. Seductive and high-spirited, A Private Hotel for Gentle Ladies is an unforgettable novel of one woman’s journey to self-enlightenment.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400079438/?tag=2022091-20
(Colleen's relationship with her best friend, her first lo...)
Colleen's relationship with her best friend, her first love, her Catholic education, and her budding literary talent are all vital parts of her life growing up in a small Massachusetts town in the 1960s.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395338816/?tag=2022091-20
( Days before her wedding, Tara Barlow ditches her fiancé...)
Days before her wedding, Tara Barlow ditches her fiancé and her hometown to head west in her prize Mustang after she discovers that her dream wedding venue—the White Cliffs—has burned down. Tara’s alarmed family sends the town psychic, Guida, to find her. When she tracks Tara to a town full of Fellini-esque characters, the two find themselves surprised but requited in their mutual attraction. They immediately hit the road, attempting to live out the happy ending Thelma and Louise only dreamed about. Ellen Cooney is the author of three novels. Her stories appear in The New Yorker, The Literary Review, and Story magazines. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566891345/?tag=2022091-20
Cooney, Ellen was born on August 20, 1952 in Clinton, Massachusetts, United States. Daughter of Wilfred and Viola (Garofoli) Cooney.
Bachelor summa cum laude, Worcester State College, Massachusetts, 1977. Master of Arts, Clark University, Worcester, 1979.
Lecturer creative writing Boston College, 1987—1992, Harvard University Extension and Summer School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1996—2000. Writer-in-residence Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992—2000.
( In her third novel, Ellen Cooney tells a story about th...)
(Colleen's relationship with her best friend, her first lo...)
( Days before her wedding, Tara Barlow ditches her fiancé...)
(Charlotte Heath, a lively, independent redhead of humble ...)
(First Edition)
1 child, Michael.