Anton Du Beke
PUT on your dancing shoes, polish up the sequins, and glide seamlessly into the glitz and glamour of Mayfair’s magnificent Buckingham Hotel as Britain teeters precariously on the edge of war.
Strictly Come Dancing star and all-round entertainer Anton
Du Beke sweeps us off our feet and waltzes us back in time to the upstairs and
downstairs dramas of the residents and staff of an exclusive London hotel in
the third novel in his dazzling wartime series.
The king of dance – and now king of romance – Du Beke follows up his bestselling novels, One Enchanted Evening and Moonlight Over Mayfair, with a festive-flavoured trip to the music and magic of the Buckingham’s Grand Ballroom where dreams, dancing and disasters are part of everyday life. And A Christmas to Remember delivers the same heady mix of real social and political history and a story filled with nostalgia, suspense, and intrigue as we are once more plunged into the beating heart of a busy, bustling hotel.
In London in 1938, the threat of war looms ever closer and
the Buckingham Hotel’s difficulties continue to grow. Still reeling from the
events of last year, including an inferno which laid waste to the hotel’s
iconic ballroom, and with guest numbers dropping as foreign tensions mount, the
staff will have a battle to keep up the hotel’s glamorous reputation.
FANCY FOOTWORK: Anton Du Beke |
Meanwhile, life has been a whirlwind for fiercely
independent chambermaid Nancy Nettleton who moved to London and the Buckingham Hotel
from her home in Lancashire, little suspecting that she would find love with Raymond
de Guise, the hotel’s debonair professional dancer.
As the festive season approaches, the exclusive hotel gets
busier and busier, with guests arriving from around the world, seeking comfort,
relaxation and refuge from Nazi Germany as tensions build across Europe.
Behind the scenes, the staff work tirelessly, ensuring the smooth operation of the hotel, guarding the secrets of their guests, but they have many of their own that they fear will be revealed. And as
the band strikes up in the Grand Ballroom to celebrate Nancy and Raymond’s wedding, one thing is certain… this will be a Christmas to remember.There isn’t a step out of place as Du Beke takes his readers
by the hand and whisks them around the ballroom for another liberal helping of
golden age dance, secrets, subterfuge, loves, losses and emotion-packed dramas.
As always, the cast of flamboyant characters from all walks of life – not least the delectable Nancy and fleet-footed Raymond – steal the show as the hotel struggles to survive, danger is never far away, and the threat of war grows with every passing day.
There is music, rhythm and some fancy footwork in this
fabulous all-singing, all-dancing story but there is also rich period detail, a
London backdrop painted with a colourful palette, and Du Beke’s sharp insight
into the fears, uncertainties and suspicions of a country facing the prospect
of yet another conflict. And with a promise from the author that we will be returning
to the Buckingham for more heart-of-war waltzes, the last dance is still far
from over!
(Zaffre, hardback, £18.99)
No comments:
Post a Comment