I learned my lesson last week – I often write my reviews on the day before they’re published, but it did backfire on me when I wasn’t well enough to write one for Lynne Shelby’s Dancing in the Moonlight on the day I should have done as part of the blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources (thanks to both Lynne and Rachel for their understanding!). Instead, I published a spotlight post (you’ll find it here – everything except the all-important review!), but today I’m delighted to share my promised review of this lovely read, independently published on 11th March, and now available for kindle and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US.
When dancer Nell Avery auditions for Speakeasy, a new West End musical, she is shocked to discover that the choreographer is Finn Harris, a man she never expected to see again.
Ten years ago, Nell and Finn had a casual, no-strings fling. He left London to work abroad. Nell found herself pregnant.
Having made the decision to raise her child alone, Nell didn’t tell Finn that he was the father, a secret easy for her to keep while he was hundreds of miles away. But now Finn is back – and he offers Nell a role in Speakeasy’s cast.
Nell knows if she takes the job she risks Finn finding out her secret, with unimaginable consequences for the life she has made for herself and her daughter, Savannah. But Speakeasy could be Nell’s only chance of dancing on a West End stage – the dream she’s had ever since she first put on a pair of tap shoes. How can she give up her dream?
Nell accepts the role, telling herself that all she has to do is keep away from Finn…
If you’re a fan of musical theatre – and I certainly am – you’ll find the opportunity to spend time behind the scenes totally fascinating, from the fierce competition of the auditions through to the gruelling schedule of performance, complete with the friendships and alliances, but including the more testing relationships. The author recreates it all quite wonderfully – the joy and the agony – and I enjoyed every moment. But there’s far more to this lovely book – a second chance romance with considerable complications, and a particularly emotional and involving storyline.
Approaching the end of her performing life, Nell is one of the oldest to audition for a part in Speakeasy, a new West End musical – and there are those who constantly remind her of that. But there’s a further complication in her former relationship with choreographer Finn – after a long time apart, their feelings for each other are still there, but renewing their relationship is something Nell really can’t allow to happen. Her daughter Savannah is now nine, a budding dancer herself, and knows nothing about her father – and Finn wasn’t ever aware that their earlier fling left Nell pregnant, bringing her daughter up as a single parent alongside the pressures of her stage career. The story dips back into their time together, and explores the possibility of him coming back into Nell’s life – there’s a very real attraction neither of them can resist, and it’s clear they’re a couple who are really meant to be together, but with the truth yet to emerge their joint future is fraught with difficulty.
Alongside the developing romance, there’s the unprecedented opportunity to spend a lot of time backstage, and it’s all so superbly handled – an unfamiliar environment, drawn in the most wonderful detail, that I was made to feel very much part of. I particularly enjoyed the friendships, firmly established through performing together in earlier shows – and the way Nell took Florence under her wing, a first-timer overcome with nerves and then thrown off-course by an unsuitable relationship when there’s someone much more suitable waiting in the wings. We follow the ensemble through every step of their journey – and experience some of the back-biting and undermining, the jostling for prominence, that makes their lives all the more difficult, all the individuals (even the less likeable) so wonderfully drawn. And I also really liked the backstage traditions, particularly the need to spend time sharing secrets with the portrait of Lily Dene – The Nightingale – the Edwardian actress who gave the theatre its name, a seat still reserved for her to attend every production.
At times, it’s a particularly emotional story, with plenty of tension and uncertainty – and a few unexpected developments as Nell’s secret emerges – nicely balanced by the exhilaration and sense of achievement as the performance gradually comes together. And we follow the show – and everyone’s lives – through to the end of its run, with an ending that neatly tied up any loose ends and left me with an inner glow, everything I could have possibly wanted it to be. A gorgeous book you really must add to your reading list – I loved it.
About the author
Lynne Shelby writes contemporary women’s fiction/romance. Her debut novel, French Kissing, now re-published in ebook as Meet Me In Paris, was published when it won a national writing competition run by Woman magazine and Accent Press. Her fifth novel, Love On Location, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists’ Association Award. She has done a variety of jobs from stable girl to child actor’s chaperone to legal administrator. When not writing or reading, Lynne can usually be found at the theatre watching a play or a musical, or exploring a foreign city, writer’s notebook and sketchbook in hand. She lives in north London with her husband and a lot of books, and has three adult children who live nearby.
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Thank you for writing such a lovely review, Anne. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Dancing In The Moonlight.
My absolute pleasure Lynne – apologies it took me rather longer than I’d planned!