Josephine Baker is well know for her dancing and singing and wild routines. However, her childhood growing up in Missouri, how she began in show business and her activism during World War II is less known. Josephine's rise to fame was anything but smooth as she endured poverty, racism, and sexual abuse. Through her own fortitude and determination Josephine carved a place out for herself in the entertainment industry and the world.


As a dancer, Josephine Baker is someone I have learned about and idolized. Through this biographical story we are carried through the lesser known ups and downs of Josephine's exciting and controversial life. The opening scene absolutely dazzled me as we are thrown into Josephine's preparations for what would be her last performance. This is a perfect introduction to the person who is a true force of nature and a true performer. This introduction gave just enough hints into Josephine's life to keep me wondering about her life. The elegant writing conveyed the highs and lows of the journey through Josephine's life and the emotions that went alongside of it. I was constantly amazed at how Josephine pulled herself up again and again and continued to add good to the world after all that she went through. Josephine Baker's Last Dance is a whirlwind of an inspirational story of a remarkable woman.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Josephine Baker is someone I had known about since my elementary school days in the mid-1970s, when I first saw her profile in a calendar celebrating what was then Black History Month. I was fascinated to learn that she had gone to Paris in 1925 and made herself into a superstar in France and across the world. 

"JOSEPHINE BAKER'S LAST DANCE" was given to me last month as a Christmas gift. The essence of the novel has as a centerpiece, what was Josephine Baker's last great stage performance in Paris in April 1975. The author uses it as a springboard to take the reader back to Josephine's early years in St. Louis, where she was born in poverty in 1906. I very much enjoyed seeing Josephine as she grew and matured. Hers was not an easy life. There is much in the novel that conveys the struggles and abuse that she endured. America was then an unwelcoming and at times, brutal and dispiriting place for its black citizens. Baker gets into vaudeville as a dancer in her mid-teens and eventually, the gateway to stardom opens and Josephine arrives in Paris with La Revue Nègre . 

The only part of the novel I found fault was its description of Josephine Baker's service in World War II as an intelligence agent and member of the French Resistance. The time sequences which covered the early war years seemed at times nebulous and compressed. If the reader had little or no knowledge of how the French defeat to Nazi Germany impacted the country in June 1940, he/she would be led to think that the resistance movement to the Germans developed overnight. That was not true at all. There was, initially disillusionment and fear when the Germans entered Paris - which had been declared an open city by the French government - on June 14, 1940 - and compelled the French to sign an armistice 8 days later. It would be several months to a year before an incipient resistance movement began to take shape in France as the Germans solidified their power and authority there. 

There was also a mention in the novel which indicated that Josephine Baker made the acquaintance of the courageous British spy Krystna Skarbek, a Pole (aka 'Christine Granville') during the early days of the German Occupation. That is simply untrue. (I read a book in 2015 about Krystyna Skabek's wartime service --- 'Christine: SOE Agent & Churchill's Favourite Spy'. Krystyna Shabek did not get to France until the summer of 1944. Earlier, she had been engaged in espionage work since late 1939 in German-occupied Poland, the Balkans, and Egypt.) That is why I am taking away 1 star and giving "JOSEPHINE BAKER'S LAST DANCE" 3 stars.  Outside of that glaring, historical inaccuracy, it is a very good novel which brought out the real Josephine Baker in so many interesting ways.

Heloise and Abelard. .

I've thought of them as the original Romeo and Juliet. Their story full of wonder and sadness. Well this is a sad story.

The starcrossed lovers who could not catch a break.

Heloise is a strong, forward thinking woman in a time when women were quiet and not well educated. Abelard was a philosopher who became her teacher. They committed the ultimate sin by falling in love. Love a sin? Apparently so.

I can't say I was very sympathetic to Abelard. I found him to be selfish and less than amazing, however, I don't believe he deserved his punishment for love.

Heloise, on the other hand, was an amazing character. She was strong, charming and an empathetic character. I cannot understand, nor agree with some of her decisions.

The actual writings of the two are threaded throughout the book. I must admit, the short pieces of their letters to each other have me yearning to learn more about this couple.

I enjoyed this book and encourage anyone interested in romance or history to read this well written book.

So I get a mail, just a little while after I publish a review on Netgalley, that I have been approved for a new book...I mean I'm glad, but it's hard to get to the bottom of my Netgalley pile...;)

 Thanks to Barbara's post, I spent some time browsing the comments on the Anne Rice Amazon petition. And I found this from author Sherry Jones:

When I read this, my first reaction was "God that's awful if that actually happened!" With that thought I decided to find out if it was true, because if true surely Amazon should have called the police by now. Granted, the offending posts could have been deleted, but someone else said that's nearly impossible so let's assume they were not.

I did find some controversy about the author. Originally she had a publishing deal with Random House, galleys got sent out in advance of the release and there was drama. A professor from the University of Texas contacted Random House to say that publishing the book might incite violence from Muslim extremists and said some pretty harsh things about it. Random House dropped the book. Then Gibson Square in the UK decided to publish it and shortly after the home of someone who worked for the publisher was firebombed. Though I could find no evidence that it was because they picked up the book, it was suspected at the time. Three men were arrested and went to jail, the publisher decided to drop the book. It was finally published in the US by Beaufort Books, who has a history of publishing controversial books (like O.J. Simpsons's If I did It).

Now let's move on to the Amazon reviews that the author says contain "malicious insults" and "death threats."

1 Star

Total 1 star reviews: 10

Reviews from Real Name Reviewers: 5

Amazon Verified Purchases: 2

In reading every single one of these 10 reviews, all of them strictly contain criticisms of the book itself or the author as a writer. Some highlights:

"Aisha seems to be a fancy of the author... Laughable, childish, full of lies and fantasies, disgusting most of the time... provokes anger, tests your patience if you are a Muslim... Or if you do not have any understanding of History of Muslims, you may enjoy it"

"This book is full of lies, Sherry Jones does not have any idea about the history of Islam" - this was the closest I could find to a "malicious insult"

"The truth is that this novel is far from a legitimate work of historical fiction. If Jones stood behind her claims that Jewel of Medina is a work of fiction, not possessing actual historical accuracy, then the offense taken to it would be greatly diminished."

"This book, which Jones believes to be the literary portrayal of a `heroine' is, by Islamic standards, the portrayal of a character steeped in indecency and immorality."

"The Muslim world flipped its collective lid over a few childish and self-evidently innocuous cartoons, so Jones sets out to write a torpid romance novel involving a NINE-YEAR OLD BRIDE TO A 35-YEAR OLD FOUNDER OF A WORLD RELIGION!
Shameless sensationalism and exploitation of controversy. That's all this piece of bilge is."

"In the aftermath of 9/11, renewed interest in Islam and its founder Prophet Muhammad has spurred authors like Jones to fabricate their own versions of a faith about which they lack knowledge. To obscure her lack of complete understanding about Islam, Jones has conveniently chosen to garb her attempt as a piece of historical `fiction'!"

"Ms. Jones presents to us what amounts to a veiled Harlequin Romance novel about a prophet of God, wrapped in the face of innocence. From beginning to end, the fulcrum is sex, and these imagined encounters and innuendo never cease."

"Several sections and events are purely fictional and entirely made up. The author did not take the time to do any basic research into the subject."

Yes some of these reviews are very critical of the author, but I failed to find any malicious intent or death threats. Most of these reviewers are so thoughtful and put together I know authors who would kill to get them.

2 Star

Total 2 Star Reviews: 8

Reviews from Real Name Reviewers: 2

Amazon Verified Purchases: 1

Again, I fail to find anything malicious, insulting, or a single death threat. But some highlights.

"Muslims, if they get it right, can use the publication of this book as a platform to educate people about the characters who are so much a part of their lives and as a starting point to really teach non-Muslims about the life of `Aisha, who was a woman far more fascinating that Jones was able to portray."

"I interviewed the author and I genuinely believe she had good intentions, and just didn't-quite-get-it."

"It seems as though Jones cannot quite manage to divorce herself from western mentality and put herself in the shoes of a woman who lived in a very different time and place."

"It romanticizes child rape and turns the victim into a martyr for a 'cause'. It also suggests the child bride was having affairs!" - Harsh, but the girl was 6 when she was betrothed to Muhammed and was 9 when the marriage was conummated.

"I tried to figure out what the fuss is all about. The book seems to be quite respectful of Muhammad. It doesn't even criticize some of his violent actions,"

"Read the book - but follow it up by then reading some of Jones' reference material. This is a great story that deserves to be told - unfortunately Sherry Jones isn't the author to tell it."

"For a story in which the protagonist begins her tale as a pre-pubescent female forced into marriage with a much older man, the book develops little empathy for or understanding of A'isha's plight."

"If you want to weigh in on the controversy by all means go ahead and buy the book, just don't have high expectations for an enlightening, engaging read."

"The Jewel of Medina disapointed me because its protagonist spent most of the book being either annoying or vicimized--oftem both at once!"

Oh the horror! I feel victimized just reading these awful reviews! /sarcasm

How there are some discussion posts about this book too. So I thought it only fair to investigate those since they seemed more harsh and maybe the author doesn't know the difference in reviews and discussion posts. Yes there was one person who seemed to perhaps some close to the line with threats by suggesting use of "any available means" to punish the book. But those posts were quickly deleted and most of the other posters came to the author's defense to write any book she wishes, no matter how ill-formed or offensive it might be. Also those posts were from 2009.

Sorry Sherry Jones, your story is crap.

Edited to add screenshots of the author's messages to me on Twitter today:

And a few that weren't connected to the same convo thread: