Arabesque
by M G da Mota
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Psychological Drama
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOOK BLURB:
A woman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beech sapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?
A ballet dancer in 1960s East Germany is oppressed, longs for escaping with his little daughter but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?
In 2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with two young children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principal dancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers to their private lives.
Against the background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her story from a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional she begins believing Ivone robbed her of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in a garden...What connects all these people and their stories?
You’ll be the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:
Ivone finalises her preparations. The swan princess appears briefly in the prologue—blink and you miss her!—and properly for the first time in Act Two. A little earlier, already in costume, she stood briefly in the wings to watch Karsten appear on stage. She heard the warm applause greeting him. Would the public welcome her as well? Of course she is a principal and principal dancers are generally greeted with clapping and a roar from the audience. But does the London public actually know her? Probably not. Does it matter? Ivone knows that the visitors to the Royal Opera House are rather international. Many British of course but often a large part of the audience is made up of people who visit the country and love culture and the arts. They programme one or more visits to the Royal Opera House as part of their holiday.
She recalls Karsten’s words earlier Don’t fear, you’ll be fine and remember I will always be there for you, to catch you and make you shine. Ivone feels a wave rushing through her. A mixed wave of warmth and attraction. She finds him engaging, enticing. He captivated her from the moment they first met. She remembers her first day at the Royal Opera House only two months ago.
***
It is Wednesday, 1st December, a national holiday in her country, celebrating the day Portugal regained its independence and expelled the Spanish occupiers. Ivone wonders why she suddenly remembered a history lesson. Perhaps her nerves.
She walks under a large umbrella, carrying her rucksack on her back with the equipment she needs for class. A small handbag is across her chest. She is heading to the Royal Opera House, her new ballet home. Stepping slowly along Bow Street she can see first the building from the side, then she is suddenly in front of it. She stops and stares at the palladium façade, looking up slowly, hugging the building with her eyes.
Here she is. After four years, some of intense suffering, she is here. She got through it all and has landed on her feet. A few drops of rain fall on her face. She smiles. There is hope in her eyes. It’s a new beginning. The start she wanted. The dream she harboured since she’d won the Royal Ballet scholarship as a teenager—to become a principal of the Royal Ballet. And now she is one.
Ivone breathes in and out a few times. She is nervous. Anxious. Will she be good enough? Will the public like her? Will her colleagues welcome her? After all, she is landing directly at the top without going through the Royal Ballet company ranks. But she went through the ranks at La Scala and quickly became a soloist and a principal. The same in her home country with the Companhia Nacional de Bailado, the Portuguese National Ballet company, based in Lisbon.
Butterflies flutter in her stomach and Ivone feels sick. She inhales and exhales deeply a few more times. She needs to relax.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR BIO & LINKS:
.jpg)
M G da Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen name for fiction. She is a Portuguese-British novelist with a love for classical music, ballet and opera. Under her real name she also writes reviews of live concerts, CDs, DVDs and books for two classical music magazines on the web: MusicWeb International and Seen and Heard International. She is a member of the UK Society of Authors, speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with her husband. Her website, called flowingprose.com, contains photos and information.
Website:
Facebook:
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AMAZON BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
Amazon UK Kindle eBook:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for featuring ARABESQUE today.
ReplyDeleteHello, it's M G da Mota here, author of Arabesque. Thank you for featuring my book today. It's much appreciated.
ReplyDelete