In 1945 London the war in Europe may be over, but when the past resurfaces for dancer Briar Woods of Sadler’s Wells Ballet, she’s forced to give the performance of her life in order to save it in the second Lucy Ashe historical suspense novel, The Sleeping Beauties, (September 10, 2024; Union Square & Co.; Paperback; ISBN: 9781454951254) that follows The Dance of the Dolls, the author’s 2023 breakout success where, once again, she pulls readers in with another high-stakes, atmospheric, compelling thriller.
The story begins with Rosamund Caradon who, since 1939, had taken in many children from Britain’s bombarded cities, sheltering them in her Devonshire manor. Now, with Germany’s surrender, she is en route to London to return the last evacuees, accompanied by her dance-obsessed daughter Jasmine. Rosamund vows to protect Jasmine from any peril, but a chance meeting with a Sadler’s Wells dancer changes everything. When the beautiful, elusive Briar Woods bursts into Rosamund’s train carriage, it’s clear her sights are set on the captivated Jasmine. As Briar sets out to charm them both, Rosamund cannot shake the eerie feeling this accidental encounter isn’t what it seems. While Briar may be far away from the pointe shoes and greasepaint of The Sleeping Beauty ballet rehearsals, her performance for Rosamund might just be her most successful yet. A dance that could turn deadly.
It would probably come as no surprise that that author Lucy Ashe trained at the Royal Ballet School, before changing career plans and going to St Hugh’s College, Oxford University, to study English Literature. An English and Drama teacher, this prolific author has also written CLARA & OLIVIA (shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger 2024) and THE DANCE OF THE DOLLS.
SPLASH had the opportunity to talk with Lucy and find out more about the dance world and how it relates to her writing:
In The Sleeping Beauties a ballet company prepares to re-open the theater after WWII with a production of The Sleeping Beauty. How is that an appropriate metaphor for a country emerging from the darkness of war?
The fairy tale of the Sleeping Beauty is rich with symbols of re-awakening from a long curse, the victory of good over evil, and the enduring power of love and community to defeat an enemy. As the Lilac Fairy re-awakens the castle from their one-hundred year slumber, an audience might well be inspired to think of a country re-building after the destruction of war.
During the Second World War, the Royal Opera House in London was used as a dance hall, a Mecca dance floor stretching across the stage and auditorium with jazz bands at either end. It was a place of escapism and entertainment among the ever present weight of war. It is fascinating to see archival photographs of uniformed men and women lining up outside the theater, their defiant determination to keep spirits high despite the air raids and black outs.
With the return to the Royal Opera House’s use as a theater after the war, the decision to put on the ballet ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ marked a new beginning in the theatre’s history. The production’s sets and costumes by Oliver Messel were exquisitely opulent, despite the pressures of continuing rationing and limited paints and materials. Many people came together to make this ambitious production a success, and when the opening finally arrived in February 1946, there were queues forming outside the theater from the night before in the hopes of getting a standing ticket.
While there was some gentle criticism of this decision to put on such an elaborate production when the country was still struggling economically from the war, the majority of reviews were overwhelming positive: the country was re-awakening from the curse of war.
In your novel, you explore the value of the arts in war years through the fictional Sadler’s Wells Ballet company. Can you tell us about that? And what it required to bring dance to so many towns and cities?
The energy of ballet companies during the war is astounding. Dancers worked hard to bring hundreds of performances to many corners of the country, lifting morale and providing welcome entertainment.
In my research for the novel, I was captivated by the war-time stories of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet company. In fact, it was the work of the company during the war that helped grow their national popularity. The company was founded in 1931, and so during the war it was still young and working hard to consolidate its reputation.
In 1939, during the so-called ‘Phoney War’, the theaters in London closed briefly and the Sadler’s Wells Ballet immediately embarked on provincial tours. Although the London theaters soon re-opened, the company gave up their home in Islington so that it could function as a shelter for those who lost their homes from the bombing. The company moved to the New Theatre near Covent Garden, as well as traveling on frequent tours. There were many challenges: the limited materials for costumes and pointe shoes; poor conditions for performing, such as dancing in freezing aircraft hangars followed by long train journeys, ballet tights drying on the luggage racks; the male dancers conscripted into the armed forces; the lack of an orchestra. And yet despite the challenges, the company worked harder than ever, producing new works alongside their more established repertoire. Such was their popularity that Margot Fonteyn writes in her autobiography of fans leaving little packages of rations – sugar, chocolate, butter – for the dancers, a welcome gift to help keep up their energy.
I was delighted to find a theater ticket and playbill from 1941 in Travis & Emery music bookshop in London. There was an air raid notice inside that I kept with me while writing The Sleeping Beauties, a memento to the significance of theater during the war: ‘If you wish to leave for home or an official Air Raid Shelter, you are at liberty to do so. All we ask is that – if you feel you must go – you will depart quietly and without excitement.’
We understand the real-life story of the founder of Royal Ballet School, Ninette de Valois, took her company to Holland in May 1940 and there is a remarkable story of the dancers’ escape from the German invasion. Please share how it relates to your book?
I wanted to include this surprising detail of ballet history in The Sleeping Beauties for a few reasons. Firstly, the ballet company’s tour to Holland in 1940 is an intriguing story about WW2 that is not often told. The tour was organised by the British Council as a form of cultural propaganda, an example of the importance of dance in building connections and relationships during the war. Additionally, in reading different accounts of the trip, I was interested in the various perspectives the dancers and company leaders held about the situation in which they found themselves. The compulsion to continue as normal, to perform, to follow familiar routines prevailed despite the danger of the German invasion. Finally, I love setting significant fictional moments for my characters among the backdrop of real historical events: it is this blending of fact and fiction that attracts me to writing historical novels.
How do you feel your classical dance training prepared you for writing?
When I was training at the Royal Ballet School, and for some years after, my identity was entirely wrapped up in ballet. To say I was obsessed would be an understatement! However, I did leave the world of dance behind, and it took me many years to find a way to return through writing. Alongside my interest in the history of ballet, my classical dance training gave me a focus and discipline that has stayed with me ever since I was a teenager. As a dancer, you have to learn how to cope with rejection, competition and self-doubt. A love of my craft for its own sake, as well as a determination to keep trying, practicing, assessing and improving, has been important for me in both ballet and writing.
What would you like readers to take away from The Sleeping Beauties?
I hope readers will enjoy exploring unique perspectives on WW2, immersing themselves in personal stories of the war that are not often told. In The Sleeping Beauties, characters grapple with the value we give to the arts in times of conflict, and I would love for readers to take away a fresh awareness of the different challenges and priorities people faced. While some characters are easier to love than others, I hope readers will enjoy being swept along by all their stories, traveling with them between the theaters, towns and dance studios, and across the countries, seas and forests where their adventures unfold.
“Former ballerina Ashe delivers another bewitching work of dance-themed historical suspense… Ashe’s intimate ballet knowledge and meticulous historical detail elevate the proceedings. The result is both a satisfying page-turner and a moving meditation on the role of art in times of distress.” — Publishers Weekly
The Sleeping Beauties is on sale now
Learn more about Lucy Ashe
Photo Credits: Lucy Ashe, Union Square & Co., L.A. Dance Chronicle, The Royal Ballet School
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