Tango Lessons

A Memoir

By Meghan Flaherty

About this Argentine tango memoir

Tango Lessons is the debut memoir of Meghan Flaherty, a young woman who carried the scars of past trauma, was afraid of being touched and kept real passion at a distance. In her late twenties she realised something had to change, revived an old dream and put on her dancing shoes.

From beginner classes she found her way into the late-night milongas of New York’s tango underground. In a dance where, traditionally, the woman follows, she discovered that the hardest lesson was not footwork but following with strength and agency, keeping her own balance whatever the lead. When she broke her personal rule of never mixing romance and tango, those lessons began to reach every part of her life. Written in wry, lyrical prose and enriched with the history and culture of tango, it is a story about facing fear and finding freedom in the closest embrace.

What you will find inside

• A personal journey from beginner classes to New York milongas
• Reflections on leading, following and agency in the embrace
• Threads of tango history and culture woven through the story
• Honest writing about trauma, touch, trust and intimacy
• Romance, setbacks and the lessons tango teaches off the dance floor

Who is this book for?

Dancers who remember their first steps in tango, followers reflecting on their role in the embrace, and readers of literary memoir who are curious about the world of Argentine tango.

Why we recommend it

Meghan Flaherty writes about tango with the honesty of someone who was once terrified of the embrace, and that makes her memoir one of the most relatable tango books for beginners. Her descriptions of New York practicas and late-night milongas will make experienced dancers nod in recognition, while her reflections on following with agency offer real food for thought for followers everywhere. It is also beautifully written, a pleasure to read even for people who have never danced. We recommend it to anyone who started tango to heal something, and to friends who keep asking why you spend your nights dancing with strangers.

Published in 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 320 pages, ISBN 978-0544980709.

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