The Gods of Tango

This beautifully lyrical story opens in 1913, when Leda, a young woman from a small village in Italy, sails to Buenos Aires to join her husband, Dante, who emigrated three years earlier. Upon arrival, she learns Dante was killed; she now has to figure out how to survive in a place with no opportunities for women. After many nights of listening to musicians playing on local streets, she picks up her violin and begs to be taught how to play the tango. This is a scandalous request—at this point in history, the tango is played only in brothels and back alley clubs, never in places frequented by respectable people, particularly women. Yet her request is granted. Rather than risk falling into poverty and prostitution, Leda takes her husband's clothing and name and decides to live as a man, which enables her to find work as a musician. Leda, now Dante, slips away to a distant neighborhood where no one knows her and begins her new life. The evolution of her life as a man and as a musician is told alongside the social history of Argentina as well as the history of the tango as it changes over time, affected by assorted cultural and class influences. Beautifully written erotic love scenes make this book better suited for older teens.