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I appreciate that her dreams are as important as his -- but actually in those days, she wouldn't have thought so. In those days, a woman would accept that her husband's career came first, unquestioningly. Besides, I would have thought she'd be thinking ahead. Wouldn't she see the sense of going to Hollywood and earn some money so they can be married and start a family?
I have only read until the end of the second chapter of this book as this was the extract provided by Reader's First. Although his mother encouraged his new hobby, his father, Antal, “took a turn” against Du Beke as alcoholism gripped him.Du Beke has released a book called Anton's Dance Class which was serialised in the Mail on Sunday. [16] Du Beke also wrote an A–Z of ballroom dancing, B is for Ballroom. [17]
Du Beke said he told people he had “pulled a hamstring” when asked about his leg injury because he was embarrassed. I was absolutely thrilled to be offered the chance to review Anton du Beke's new novel Moonlight Over Mayfair. I admit to reading the first chapter in Anton's voice but soon got over my adoration and enjoyed the book for its own merits. You’d move room to get away from all of it and then he follows you in and the next thing you know the violence starts and then it came to a head one evening, I ended up in hospital for three days. I remember walking out of the house to walk up to the hospital holding my leg and a police car drove past and I waved them down and I said ‘he’s in there with a knife’. Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke announces birth of twins". News & Star. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018 . Retrieved 31 March 2017.
‘One Enchanted Evening’
Dance obviously features heavily and in this book, Raymond brings new trends from America such as the jitterbug whilst also enjoying the traditional dances of the ballroom. This emphasises the period of change that Moonlight Over Mayfair encompasses. Everything was about moving forwards, I felt sorry for my mum, this was her husband, she’s working two jobs and he chose to drink and be violent, it’s just life and you carry on,” he said. I would have liked to know more about Helene, our of all the characters she seemed the most real, with an interesting past and a history of an interracial relationship during a time when this was still somewhat taboo. Whilst personally I did not warm to Frank whom I felt brought nothing new to the cast, his story did not dominate the novel which is much more a story of how a magnificent hotel fares through the interwar years and the impact on its fortunes, in addition to the staff and guests who pass through its doors. After a successful debut the temptation might have been to maintain the status quo but instead Du Beke takes the risk of significant developments taking place in the lives of the primary cast and as a result the novel proves to be as engrossing as the first. I doubt the novel would work as well as it does if read as a stand-alone, with much of the enjoyment coming from seeing how far the characters who came to life in the first novel fare in the second. And with another instalment in the pipeline I can only recommend readers follow this one from the start!
Trip the light fantastic with this gorgeous, exciting and evocative historical tale set in the 1930s written by Strictly Come Dancing superstar, Anton du Beke. McIntosh, Steven (2 August 2023). "Anton Du Beke: Strictly judge reveals he was stabbed by his father as a child". BBC News . Retrieved 3 August 2023. At the time, the aspiring dancer changed his name “from Tony Beke, who grew up on a council estate” to “Anton Du Beke, The Show Man”.
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His celebrity partners over the years have included former home secretary Jacqui Smith, soap star Emma Barton and politician Ann Widdecombe. The last third of the novel spoilt the whole thing for me, unfortunately. It felt implausible to me. Raymond de Guise, the main character from Book 1, is offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to go to Hollywood and be launched as a star to rival Fred Astaire. However his girlfriend, Nancy, is horrified at the prospect of leaving her job as a chambermaid and her volunteer charity work with London's poor. In fact she can't understand why he would want to leave the Grand Ballroom.
Raymond de Guise and Nancy’s relationship develops in what could have been a hug of a love story, but by the end I couldn’t muster any care for either of them.On the whole I enjoyed One Enchanted Evening, I felt like I left my worries and cares aside for the time I was immersed in this novel. It did lag a little in places, the timing wasn’t quite right and I didn’t feel the love story completely, but I was willing to overlook this for the sparkling world Anton du Beke recreated. With hotels jostling for superior status, the underground life of dancers and staff of this opulent establishment, the glamour as well as hardships of 1930s Britain was laid out well.
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