Dancing in the Ring

Catherine McIntosh has ambition: she’s going to become one of the first women to practice law in Detroit. Bob Sage intends to practice law too, but he puts as much focus on his career as a boxer. Throw two such strong-willed people together in the midst of the Roaring Twenties and you’ve got either the makings of a power couple or the makings of a powder keg. Whether it’s them or the world, something’s going to explode.

I was drawn in by the premise of the book, as I love reading about strong-willed women in historical settings. Unfortunately, it soon fell flat. Catherine and Bob are presented with little subtlety. A lot of the book involves telling rather than showing, from the setting of 1920s Detroit to the main couple themselves. The minor characters got the worst of it, since I was often told simply who they were and why I should care about them rather than seeing them in action. In the end, I didn’t wind up caring about them at all.

Dancing in the Ring has all the makings of a gripping story. Unfortunately, its style fails to deliver on the promise.