A Mile High Page-Turner: Read Our Review of We Only Want What’s Best by Carolyn Swindell

A long-haul flight. Two ambitious dance mums. A child in danger.

Bridget and Simone aren’t friends. But their daughters are in the same dance troupe, so they’re flying to Los Angeles for the girls to perform at Disneyland. Simone’s daughter Zahra is indisputably a leader in the group, but Bridget’s daughter Becky is a talent on the rise.

Simone and her husband are accustomed to business class, but Bridget is less comfortable there. Both lonely women are surprised to find something in common, until Bridget discovers images of Zahra and other dancers that shock her. Are they exploitative or art?

A fierce examination of their dance world ensues, tension rises and there’s no way for anyone to escape it. For two very different families and four teenagers, what unfolds over the flight will shock and threaten to destroy them.

We Only Want What’s Best is Carolyn Swindell’s debut. She’s had an impressive career in corporate, politics and professional sport before turning to the arts as a writer and comedian. Her solo show ‘Why DIY?’ was short-listed for Best Comedy at the 2019 Sydney Fringe Festival and her second solo show Nice Lady MP completed a sold-out season at the Enmore Theatre as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. This diverse background serves her well – she knows how to tell a story. More than that, she knows how to keep an audience on the edge of their seats.

The book takes place during a flight to Los Angeles. It switches perspectives between Bridget and Simone, two very different women, with each chapter heading giving us a countdown to the destination:

Bridget – 9 hours and 48 minutes to destination

… and so on. This countdown kept me in a state of heightened anxiety as I tore through the short, punchy chapters.

Simone and Bridget and both well crafted, very different archetypes of the stage mother. Simone is an ex-dancer and mum to Zahra, who is talented but a bit older than Bridget’s younger and more talented daughter, Becky. Several chapters are from the perspective of ‘The Children’, where the uncomfortable dynamic between the girls is highlighted.

Swindell deftly weaves in themes around power and wealth, and art and perversion – topical in an age where shows such as ‘Dance Moms’ are so popular. It’s a polished debut, filled with wit and unforeseen twists. It might be a long-haul flight, but a lot happens during it. Fasten your seatbelts – We Only Want What’s Best is a thrilling read.

Buy a copy of We Only Want What’s Best here.