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Sadler's Wells #1
Sanje o baletni šoli
Veronica, newly orphaned, longs to study ballet but instead must live with unsympathetic relatives in the North of England.
158 pages
First published January 1, 1950
About the author
Lorna Hill
66 books53 followersHill attended school in Durham and then went to Le Manoir in Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She obtained a BA at Durham University, and there met her husband, a clergyman. They moved to the remote parish of Matfen, Northumberland, where she played the organ in church and ran a Sunday school.
Hill's career as an author began when her daughter Vicki, then about ten years old, found a story her mother had written as a child and asked for about its characters. The result was a series of eight books about Marjorie & Co, illustrating them herself. These began to be published in London in 1948. They were followed by the Patience series and several others.
When Vicki left home to be a ballet student at Sadler's Wells in London, Hill missed her and began to write her Dream of Sadler's Wells series. She eventually wrote a total of 40 children's books, as well as La Sylphide, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni, and two romances for adults, published in 1978. Hill was then obliged to stop writing by ill health. She is said to have been firm with publishers and to have earned more from her books than many of her contemporaries. Translations of some titles into several other languages appeared, including less usual ones such as Finnish (by Pirkko Biström, 1991), Indonesian (1994), Czech (1995) and Slovenian (by Bernarda Petelinšek, 1996).
More information at Wikipedia.
Hill's career as an author began when her daughter Vicki, then about ten years old, found a story her mother had written as a child and asked for about its characters. The result was a series of eight books about Marjorie & Co, illustrating them herself. These began to be published in London in 1948. They were followed by the Patience series and several others.
When Vicki left home to be a ballet student at Sadler's Wells in London, Hill missed her and began to write her Dream of Sadler's Wells series. She eventually wrote a total of 40 children's books, as well as La Sylphide, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni, and two romances for adults, published in 1978. Hill was then obliged to stop writing by ill health. She is said to have been firm with publishers and to have earned more from her books than many of her contemporaries. Translations of some titles into several other languages appeared, including less usual ones such as Finnish (by Pirkko Biström, 1991), Indonesian (1994), Czech (1995) and Slovenian (by Bernarda Petelinšek, 1996).
More information at Wikipedia.
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December 25, 2013
Lorna Hill never intended to be an author, though she was to write a total of 40 children’s books, some of which have been reprinted countless times over the years, a commissioned biography of the dancer Marie Taglioni, entitled “La Sylphide”, and two romances for adults. But it’s a bit of a fluke that Lorna Hill wrote anything at all. She had a fairly privileged upbringing, including education at Durham Hill School for girls, and a finishing school at Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Lorna Hill then returned to England and took a degree at Durham University. She met a clergyman there, married him, and settled down into the role of a country vicars’s wife.
The couple had a daughter, Vicki, and Lorna Hill’s writing career started when her daughter was about ten years old. Vicki found a story which her mother had written as a child, and wanted to hear more about “Marjorie”. Lorna Hill obliged with a series of eight books, which she illustrated herself. One weekend, a publisher’s reader happened to be staying with the family, and he liked the books and recommended an agent. The agent sent the books, written in longhand, with Lorna’s own watercolour illustrations, to a publisher, “Art and Illustration”. The publisher then wrote back, asking that she bring the other seven books to London, but Lorna replied that she couldn’t afford the train fare. So the publisher advanced her £50, Lorna packed her suitcase, and her career was under way.
Another series followed, with different characters. With the extra money, the family travelled from their home in the remote vicarage in Northumberland, to see a performance of Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin in Newcastle, at the Theatre Royal. Afterwards, totally entranced with the whole ballet concept, Vicki decided she wanted to be a dancer. She worked hard, and enrolled as a student at Sadler’s Wells (which is now the Royal Ballet School) in London.
Lorna missed her daughter so much that she began to write a series of young adult books with a ballet background. The first of these was A Dream of Sadler’s Wells, which was originally published in 1950. Eventually there were to be fourteen in the series, with the final one in 1964.
A Dream of Sadler’s Wells starts with a 14-year-old narrator, Veronica Weston, suddenly being uprooted from her life in London and the ballet classes which she loves, because her father has died. She is sent up North to the wilds of Northumberland, to live with cousins she has never met, and in an alien county which sounds to her impossibly remote and unfriendly.
Thus we are thrust immediately into the action. Starting in the middle of a journey with someone who is unhappy and in distress immediately grips our attention, and also our sympathy. On the train she meets a boy who is slightly older than her, with whom she feels a kinship. He also seems isolated in his passion for music; in this case, his piano-playing, He is destined to be a lawyer, but secretly yearns to be an orchestral conductor. Perhaps because they are strangers, and never expect to meet again, Veronica and Sebastian share many of their innermost thoughts and dreams. Most readers realise however, with anticipation, that the two young people are destined to meet again. This intriguing meeting with a self-confident “interesting rather than good-looking” boy enables Veronica to forget her misery for the moment.
These first few chapters, with a first-person narrator, are well-worn territory in classic novels, but it is no worse for that. For instance, in “Jane Eyre”, there is a penniless orphan, who is subject to the whims of a rather strange family.
Such is the case here. The rich Scott family live in a big estate in the Cheviot Hills. It has its own lake, boathouse, woods, a resident nanny and chauffeur, ponies and even a gate lodge. It could not be further from the rather seedy boarding house full of eccentric and creative characters, she had grown to love in London. Veronica’s wealthy relatives are, in short, appalling, and we feel for our young heroine, with her hopes and desired duly quashed by the Scott family.
The only one who shows any friendship towards her is her younger cousin, Caroline, who is eleven, but nobody really listens to her. Veronica’s Uncle John is a shadowy figure: a business man who disappears to his shipping office in Newcastle for most of the time. Aunt June thinks she is being kind in giving a home to her niece, but has very fixed ideas about how Veronica should behave and what Veronica should and should not do with her life. Needless to say, these could not be further from Veronica’s actual wishes. Her aunt is a snob; a perfect example of the nouveau riche. Her reaction when Veronica helpfully tries to get out of the Rolls Royce and open the gates for the chauffeur is a dismissive: “Sit down, dear. Perkins will see to it.”
Fiona, Veronica’s older cousin, is even worse, and seems hellbent on making Veronica’s life a misery. Whether it is jealousy, or something else, Fiona is unbelievably awful, a spoilt brat of the worst type. She seems to have no redeeming features at all, and is perhaps the product of her mother’s stuck-up pretensions. From the start, she resents having to share her room with Veronica: “There isn’t loads of room … I hate having my things all squashed together.” In fact every time Fiona opens her mouth, it is to complain, or make a barbed comment, forever grumbling about all the compromises people expect her to make. Another disdainful comment, the first time the cousins meet, is to describe Veronica’s only dress as dirty and “like something the cat’s brought in”. It makes her look like “the dog’s dinner”. Veronica is very unhappy about this, as it was a reminder of home, and the people in the London house where she had lived, who had all been so kind to her:
“I stared down at the frock and thought of dear Mrs. Crapper making it all by hand because she hadn’t got a sewing-machine, and, if the stitches were rather big and uneven, it was only because her eyes weren’t what they had been. I felt I simply couldn’t bear Fiona making fun of it.”
Finally Fiona snatches at it, and throws it into the bath where the colours of the cheap stuff run, and it becomes a hideous mess. When Veronica gets into trouble from her aunt for being careless, she says nothing.
And at this point we realise that Veronica may be a plucky and determined young lady, but she is also very kind. Mrs. Crapper, Veronica’s landlady in London, could have easily been a figure of fun, or someone whom Veronica resented. But through Veronica’s eyes, we see a loving, caring person. Mrs Crapper puts her most precious possessions in Veronica’s room to make her feel at home, even though they sound like kitschy gifts from Margate. She sighs regretfully over her long-lost husband who “went to the dogs”. Having such a open attitude, friends with all classes and types of people, it comes as a real shock to Veronica to arrive in Northumbria, and not be allowed to open the gates to Bracken Hall by herself, rather than wait for the chauffeur. We are constantly witness to the shocked disapproval of her snobbish Aunt June, whenever Veronica acts on her own initiative, rather than following the accepted code of behaviour.
Right at the beginning then, we see Veronica’s character. We have learned of her hopes and dreams to become a professional ballet dancer, and now we learn her true worth. At the beginning of the first chapter, Veronica’s personality is described so vividly that it feels as if we have known her for years. Veronica’s imagination and sensitivity come across clearly in her visualisation of the train as an animate being, and her fond description of the London she is leaving. An example of her impulsive nature and strong view of the world becomes evident by her disapproval of smoking on trains, and this is neatly juxtaposed against Sebastian’s far more flexible attitude. We learn, too, of her interest in the arts and of course her devotion akin to an obsession with ballet, as she confesses her determination to be a dancer.
And then, at the end of this chapter, we see her vulnerability when Sebastian teases her about her father, unaware that he has recently died. Veronica, for me, is a real living character from the start, and this is quite rare in books of this type. Her good-hearted kind personality, her zest for life and her emotional nature, are there from the very beginning.
All Lorna Hill’s books have a strong sense of place. And at various points in A Dream of Sadler’s Wells we see that Veronica’s feelings are often expressed in ballet. Nature prompts her to dance with a passion as never before, in a clearing in the woods; overwhelmingly inspired by the beautiful but wild Northumberland countryside which she has quickly grown to love. Veronica is, of course, highly sensitive to beauty, especially that of the natural landscape. Another enduring image from this book, is of a young girl in a cotton frock and bare feet, totally taken up with dancing outside a window from which poured forth the music she loved:
“The first notes of Tchaikovsky’s music were falling on the air like drops of ice tinkling into a crystal goblet. I saw in my imagination the snowy woods around Bracken Hall on a winter’s day - the fir trees standing motionless, like enchanted princesses, their frosty arms outspread. I heard in my mind the church bells sounding thin and unreal in the cold, blue air. All this I thought of as I executed the crisp, clear-cut steps of that wonderful dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
As a complete contrast to Veronica, Fiona’s attitude continues throughout the book, with her snappish, scornful comments. When she learns that Veronica’s artist friend, Jonathan had painted a portrait of Veronica, her arrogance is breathtaking as she shows her contempt: “Painted you?” Fiona broke in scornfully. “Whatever for? Were you supposed to be a gipsy, or a child of the gutter, or what?”
Fiona is destined to go to finishing school in Switzerland (as the author herself did, so it is tempting to wonder if Lorna Hill encountered this sort of selfish young lady there) and Aunt June has plans to send the younger Caroline to Roedean, a very prestigious school for young ladies. But what of Veronica, the “poor relation”? Her aunt is undecided as to what would be appropriate, and much of the book involves Veronica secretly practising her ballet exercises in the bathroom, using the towel rail as a barré, and planning how on earth she can achieve her desire.
We are given a good idea of how tough it is to be a dancer, and to stand at the barré practising endless difficult plié, relevé and tendu. The resulting glamorous facade may appear to be effortless, but it takes a phenomenal amount of hard work, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, to become a professional dancer. Lorna Hill unflinchingly portrays the stark reality of hours spent in practise and rehearsal, and the harsh criticism from temperamental ballet masters. Little time is left for socialising when most spare time is spent washing tights and darning shoes. We have a glimpse into the real world of the dancer, through the care spent on the costume, the accepted style of gripping the hair back in a tight bun, and most of all, the dedication to the care of the right shoes, such as the use of methylated spirits and shellac to re-block pointe shoes.
Veronica has set her sights on reaching the top. Yet this requires grit and dedication, physical perfection and control, stamina and a strong constitution, not to mention an expressive face, intelligence and sensitivity. The true artiste will also have a vivid imagination and innate musicality. Even having all this will count for nothing without a big amount of luck, in being in the right place at the right time, which seems most unlikely for Veronica, as, undaunted, she continues to practise in secret.
At this point I realised why so much of the book had been devoted to horses, and Veronica learning to ride and establishing a rapport with one particular horse. I had just assumed it was because it is so popular with teenage girls.
Apart from such dramatic coincidences, this is very much a story which is predictable, but satisfying to read. We are rooting for Veronica right through, and the ending provides a nice counterpoint to the beginning, and a wonderful warm glow inside the reader. We can tell from the titles of the books that Veronica will feature in the first four books, so once we have read this first one we are hooked. The territory is familiar: the balance of the arts and real life, and some characters have become old friends (or enemies). They are now familiar enough for us to understand them, and enjoy relaxing with them. We may even feel deeply involved with one or two, because we have their interests at heart. We like them, and we want to see what happens in their lives.
Do Veronica and the others stay just as interesting and appealing? What will happen as they mature and grow? These were the questions which I wanted answering as a teenager reading these books. I neither studied ballet, nor went horse-riding; I was not in that “set”. But I had a passion for classical music and the arts, played the piano, and had become totally immersed in Lorna Hill’s world. Moreover I felt I knew these characters as friends.
What a joy it is then, to find that reading this book is just as gripping an experience so many decades later. It is still enchanting and enthralling, for anyone who can relate to having a dream, and stopping at nothing to pursue it. Yes, the world has moved on in many ways, and the bantering between Veronica and Sebastian may now feel a little arch, and knowingly intellectual. Modern teenagers may dislike this aspect, but the central issues and conflicts are still there. These are not just books for balletomanes, but deal with larger themes and conflicts: the demands of art concurrent with the demands of life.
The descriptions of the artistic urge, the doubts and fears, trials, aspirations, and desperate dreams of a young person are timeless, and the technical details of ballet which are included are authentic. The manuscript was checked over by the famous dancer and choreographer, Madame Ninette de Valois, for accuracy. There are six delicate line drawing illustrations in this book, plus the beautiful pastel watercolour of the cover. They are by Eve Guthrie, who was well-known for her ballet drawings and paintings showing dancers in classical poses.
In 1989, the UK publishing journal “The Publisher” wrote: “Lorna Hill writes the kind of books children would write for, and about, themselves if they could.” I have rated this book as five stars, and I think it is well worth a look as a “Junior novel” (or what would now be termed, “Young Adult”). Perhaps that final half star is pure nostalgia, but I’ll certainly be reading more of this series, in which ballet forms only the surface layer of interest, a background on which to investigate the larger timeless themes of life, love and art.
The couple had a daughter, Vicki, and Lorna Hill’s writing career started when her daughter was about ten years old. Vicki found a story which her mother had written as a child, and wanted to hear more about “Marjorie”. Lorna Hill obliged with a series of eight books, which she illustrated herself. One weekend, a publisher’s reader happened to be staying with the family, and he liked the books and recommended an agent. The agent sent the books, written in longhand, with Lorna’s own watercolour illustrations, to a publisher, “Art and Illustration”. The publisher then wrote back, asking that she bring the other seven books to London, but Lorna replied that she couldn’t afford the train fare. So the publisher advanced her £50, Lorna packed her suitcase, and her career was under way.
Another series followed, with different characters. With the extra money, the family travelled from their home in the remote vicarage in Northumberland, to see a performance of Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin in Newcastle, at the Theatre Royal. Afterwards, totally entranced with the whole ballet concept, Vicki decided she wanted to be a dancer. She worked hard, and enrolled as a student at Sadler’s Wells (which is now the Royal Ballet School) in London.
Lorna missed her daughter so much that she began to write a series of young adult books with a ballet background. The first of these was A Dream of Sadler’s Wells, which was originally published in 1950. Eventually there were to be fourteen in the series, with the final one in 1964.
A Dream of Sadler’s Wells starts with a 14-year-old narrator, Veronica Weston, suddenly being uprooted from her life in London and the ballet classes which she loves, because her father has died. She is sent up North to the wilds of Northumberland, to live with cousins she has never met, and in an alien county which sounds to her impossibly remote and unfriendly.
Thus we are thrust immediately into the action. Starting in the middle of a journey with someone who is unhappy and in distress immediately grips our attention, and also our sympathy. On the train she meets a boy who is slightly older than her, with whom she feels a kinship. He also seems isolated in his passion for music; in this case, his piano-playing, He is destined to be a lawyer, but secretly yearns to be an orchestral conductor. Perhaps because they are strangers, and never expect to meet again, Veronica and Sebastian share many of their innermost thoughts and dreams. Most readers realise however, with anticipation, that the two young people are destined to meet again. This intriguing meeting with a self-confident “interesting rather than good-looking” boy enables Veronica to forget her misery for the moment.
These first few chapters, with a first-person narrator, are well-worn territory in classic novels, but it is no worse for that. For instance, in “Jane Eyre”, there is a penniless orphan, who is subject to the whims of a rather strange family.
Such is the case here. The rich Scott family live in a big estate in the Cheviot Hills. It has its own lake, boathouse, woods, a resident nanny and chauffeur, ponies and even a gate lodge. It could not be further from the rather seedy boarding house full of eccentric and creative characters, she had grown to love in London. Veronica’s wealthy relatives are, in short, appalling, and we feel for our young heroine, with her hopes and desired duly quashed by the Scott family.
The only one who shows any friendship towards her is her younger cousin, Caroline, who is eleven, but nobody really listens to her. Veronica’s Uncle John is a shadowy figure: a business man who disappears to his shipping office in Newcastle for most of the time. Aunt June thinks she is being kind in giving a home to her niece, but has very fixed ideas about how Veronica should behave and what Veronica should and should not do with her life. Needless to say, these could not be further from Veronica’s actual wishes. Her aunt is a snob; a perfect example of the nouveau riche. Her reaction when Veronica helpfully tries to get out of the Rolls Royce and open the gates for the chauffeur is a dismissive: “Sit down, dear. Perkins will see to it.”
Fiona, Veronica’s older cousin, is even worse, and seems hellbent on making Veronica’s life a misery. Whether it is jealousy, or something else, Fiona is unbelievably awful, a spoilt brat of the worst type. She seems to have no redeeming features at all, and is perhaps the product of her mother’s stuck-up pretensions. From the start, she resents having to share her room with Veronica: “There isn’t loads of room … I hate having my things all squashed together.” In fact every time Fiona opens her mouth, it is to complain, or make a barbed comment, forever grumbling about all the compromises people expect her to make. Another disdainful comment, the first time the cousins meet, is to describe Veronica’s only dress as dirty and “like something the cat’s brought in”. It makes her look like “the dog’s dinner”. Veronica is very unhappy about this, as it was a reminder of home, and the people in the London house where she had lived, who had all been so kind to her:
“I stared down at the frock and thought of dear Mrs. Crapper making it all by hand because she hadn’t got a sewing-machine, and, if the stitches were rather big and uneven, it was only because her eyes weren’t what they had been. I felt I simply couldn’t bear Fiona making fun of it.”
Finally Fiona snatches at it, and throws it into the bath where the colours of the cheap stuff run, and it becomes a hideous mess. When Veronica gets into trouble from her aunt for being careless, she says nothing.
And at this point we realise that Veronica may be a plucky and determined young lady, but she is also very kind. Mrs. Crapper, Veronica’s landlady in London, could have easily been a figure of fun, or someone whom Veronica resented. But through Veronica’s eyes, we see a loving, caring person. Mrs Crapper puts her most precious possessions in Veronica’s room to make her feel at home, even though they sound like kitschy gifts from Margate. She sighs regretfully over her long-lost husband who “went to the dogs”. Having such a open attitude, friends with all classes and types of people, it comes as a real shock to Veronica to arrive in Northumbria, and not be allowed to open the gates to Bracken Hall by herself, rather than wait for the chauffeur. We are constantly witness to the shocked disapproval of her snobbish Aunt June, whenever Veronica acts on her own initiative, rather than following the accepted code of behaviour.
Right at the beginning then, we see Veronica’s character. We have learned of her hopes and dreams to become a professional ballet dancer, and now we learn her true worth. At the beginning of the first chapter, Veronica’s personality is described so vividly that it feels as if we have known her for years. Veronica’s imagination and sensitivity come across clearly in her visualisation of the train as an animate being, and her fond description of the London she is leaving. An example of her impulsive nature and strong view of the world becomes evident by her disapproval of smoking on trains, and this is neatly juxtaposed against Sebastian’s far more flexible attitude. We learn, too, of her interest in the arts and of course her devotion akin to an obsession with ballet, as she confesses her determination to be a dancer.
And then, at the end of this chapter, we see her vulnerability when Sebastian teases her about her father, unaware that he has recently died. Veronica, for me, is a real living character from the start, and this is quite rare in books of this type. Her good-hearted kind personality, her zest for life and her emotional nature, are there from the very beginning.
All Lorna Hill’s books have a strong sense of place. And at various points in A Dream of Sadler’s Wells we see that Veronica’s feelings are often expressed in ballet. Nature prompts her to dance with a passion as never before, in a clearing in the woods; overwhelmingly inspired by the beautiful but wild Northumberland countryside which she has quickly grown to love. Veronica is, of course, highly sensitive to beauty, especially that of the natural landscape. Another enduring image from this book, is of a young girl in a cotton frock and bare feet, totally taken up with dancing outside a window from which poured forth the music she loved:
“The first notes of Tchaikovsky’s music were falling on the air like drops of ice tinkling into a crystal goblet. I saw in my imagination the snowy woods around Bracken Hall on a winter’s day - the fir trees standing motionless, like enchanted princesses, their frosty arms outspread. I heard in my mind the church bells sounding thin and unreal in the cold, blue air. All this I thought of as I executed the crisp, clear-cut steps of that wonderful dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”
As a complete contrast to Veronica, Fiona’s attitude continues throughout the book, with her snappish, scornful comments. When she learns that Veronica’s artist friend, Jonathan had painted a portrait of Veronica, her arrogance is breathtaking as she shows her contempt: “Painted you?” Fiona broke in scornfully. “Whatever for? Were you supposed to be a gipsy, or a child of the gutter, or what?”
Fiona is destined to go to finishing school in Switzerland (as the author herself did, so it is tempting to wonder if Lorna Hill encountered this sort of selfish young lady there) and Aunt June has plans to send the younger Caroline to Roedean, a very prestigious school for young ladies. But what of Veronica, the “poor relation”? Her aunt is undecided as to what would be appropriate, and much of the book involves Veronica secretly practising her ballet exercises in the bathroom, using the towel rail as a barré, and planning how on earth she can achieve her desire.
We are given a good idea of how tough it is to be a dancer, and to stand at the barré practising endless difficult plié, relevé and tendu. The resulting glamorous facade may appear to be effortless, but it takes a phenomenal amount of hard work, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, to become a professional dancer. Lorna Hill unflinchingly portrays the stark reality of hours spent in practise and rehearsal, and the harsh criticism from temperamental ballet masters. Little time is left for socialising when most spare time is spent washing tights and darning shoes. We have a glimpse into the real world of the dancer, through the care spent on the costume, the accepted style of gripping the hair back in a tight bun, and most of all, the dedication to the care of the right shoes, such as the use of methylated spirits and shellac to re-block pointe shoes.
Veronica has set her sights on reaching the top. Yet this requires grit and dedication, physical perfection and control, stamina and a strong constitution, not to mention an expressive face, intelligence and sensitivity. The true artiste will also have a vivid imagination and innate musicality. Even having all this will count for nothing without a big amount of luck, in being in the right place at the right time, which seems most unlikely for Veronica, as, undaunted, she continues to practise in secret.
At this point I realised why so much of the book had been devoted to horses, and Veronica learning to ride and establishing a rapport with one particular horse. I had just assumed it was because it is so popular with teenage girls.
Apart from such dramatic coincidences, this is very much a story which is predictable, but satisfying to read. We are rooting for Veronica right through, and the ending provides a nice counterpoint to the beginning, and a wonderful warm glow inside the reader. We can tell from the titles of the books that Veronica will feature in the first four books, so once we have read this first one we are hooked. The territory is familiar: the balance of the arts and real life, and some characters have become old friends (or enemies). They are now familiar enough for us to understand them, and enjoy relaxing with them. We may even feel deeply involved with one or two, because we have their interests at heart. We like them, and we want to see what happens in their lives.
Do Veronica and the others stay just as interesting and appealing? What will happen as they mature and grow? These were the questions which I wanted answering as a teenager reading these books. I neither studied ballet, nor went horse-riding; I was not in that “set”. But I had a passion for classical music and the arts, played the piano, and had become totally immersed in Lorna Hill’s world. Moreover I felt I knew these characters as friends.
What a joy it is then, to find that reading this book is just as gripping an experience so many decades later. It is still enchanting and enthralling, for anyone who can relate to having a dream, and stopping at nothing to pursue it. Yes, the world has moved on in many ways, and the bantering between Veronica and Sebastian may now feel a little arch, and knowingly intellectual. Modern teenagers may dislike this aspect, but the central issues and conflicts are still there. These are not just books for balletomanes, but deal with larger themes and conflicts: the demands of art concurrent with the demands of life.
The descriptions of the artistic urge, the doubts and fears, trials, aspirations, and desperate dreams of a young person are timeless, and the technical details of ballet which are included are authentic. The manuscript was checked over by the famous dancer and choreographer, Madame Ninette de Valois, for accuracy. There are six delicate line drawing illustrations in this book, plus the beautiful pastel watercolour of the cover. They are by Eve Guthrie, who was well-known for her ballet drawings and paintings showing dancers in classical poses.
In 1989, the UK publishing journal “The Publisher” wrote: “Lorna Hill writes the kind of books children would write for, and about, themselves if they could.” I have rated this book as five stars, and I think it is well worth a look as a “Junior novel” (or what would now be termed, “Young Adult”). Perhaps that final half star is pure nostalgia, but I’ll certainly be reading more of this series, in which ballet forms only the surface layer of interest, a background on which to investigate the larger timeless themes of life, love and art.
October 23, 2017
Just returning to Lorna Hill is enough. Earlier reviews are below.
_______________________________________
The ultimate comfort read that rewards with every revisit. But I did actually notice something surprising this time - Sebastian’s hair is (apparently) black. I always thought that he was fairer.
My earlier GoodReads review is below.
________________________________________
‘One of the nicest things about the book is that it seems to say 'Come and join in'...'I have read this book twice and I am tempted to read the whole series of fourteen books all over again.'
As a veteran Wells fanatic, I can see that my engagement with the works of Lorna Hill began early. I had turned twelve when I wrote the above as part of a book appreciation exercise for English back in March 1968, and I still return to the series today as I gradually replace my battered old paperbacks for the redolence, the opaque-paper and the beautifully illustrated hardbacks that I devoured from my local library in North London. The author's love of the natural world and the beauty and open expanses of the Northumbrian landscape contrast well with the neurotic, highly disciplined and artificial hothouse of the ballet world, drawing the reader into a totally believable scenario of youthful hopes, fears and dreams.
'The book is never boring, always lively, amusing and fascinating,' and Veronica Weston still remains one of my very favourite literary heroines - generous, unsentimental, determined and arguably Lorna Hill's most memorable character. Despite being very much a product of time and place, 'A Dream of Sadlers Wells' reinforces the strength of children's and young adult literature as repositories of knowledge, escape and, most importantly, identification, as they negotiate the boundaries between childhood and maturity.
_______________________________________
The ultimate comfort read that rewards with every revisit. But I did actually notice something surprising this time - Sebastian’s hair is (apparently) black. I always thought that he was fairer.
My earlier GoodReads review is below.
________________________________________
‘One of the nicest things about the book is that it seems to say 'Come and join in'...'I have read this book twice and I am tempted to read the whole series of fourteen books all over again.'
As a veteran Wells fanatic, I can see that my engagement with the works of Lorna Hill began early. I had turned twelve when I wrote the above as part of a book appreciation exercise for English back in March 1968, and I still return to the series today as I gradually replace my battered old paperbacks for the redolence, the opaque-paper and the beautifully illustrated hardbacks that I devoured from my local library in North London. The author's love of the natural world and the beauty and open expanses of the Northumbrian landscape contrast well with the neurotic, highly disciplined and artificial hothouse of the ballet world, drawing the reader into a totally believable scenario of youthful hopes, fears and dreams.
'The book is never boring, always lively, amusing and fascinating,' and Veronica Weston still remains one of my very favourite literary heroines - generous, unsentimental, determined and arguably Lorna Hill's most memorable character. Despite being very much a product of time and place, 'A Dream of Sadlers Wells' reinforces the strength of children's and young adult literature as repositories of knowledge, escape and, most importantly, identification, as they negotiate the boundaries between childhood and maturity.
April 3, 2011
Lorna Hill's Sadler's Wells series were my favourite childhood reads and I'd campaign to have them brought back into print if I thought anyone at all shared my passion for reading about ballet in 1950's London and life in Northumberland. Veronica and Sebastian are possibly one of my favourite fictional couples.
December 12, 2011
Hello to an old friend. I can see why I used to love these books - it's all about a girl escaping to a place where she can be free to work at something beautiful.
Of course it's a vanished world (50s), but, despite some stereotypical working-class characters, I still found the values good - it's not money that matters, it's culture. Fame is something to be endured as a byproduct of creating beauty, not a goal. It doesn't matter what people look like - it's their characters that are important.
Also, Lorna Hill creates the most wonderful landscapes - it makes me want to go to Northumberland NOW!
She's very good at describing contrasts - the lights of a cottage against snow, a fire lighting up a lake for a midnight swim. Also how beautiful thoughts will inform your art.
'The first notes of Tchaikovsky's music were falling on the air like drops of ice tinkling into a crystal goblet. I saw in my imagination the snowy woods around Bracken Hall on a winter's day - the fir trees standing motionless, like enchanted princesses, their frosty arms outspread. I heard in my mind the church bells sounding thin and unreal in the cold, blue air. All this I thought of as I executed the crisp, clear-cut steps of that wonderful dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.'
2/10/16 read again late at night as an antidote to a horrible scary novel I'd just read. Worked a treat.
Of course it's a vanished world (50s), but, despite some stereotypical working-class characters, I still found the values good - it's not money that matters, it's culture. Fame is something to be endured as a byproduct of creating beauty, not a goal. It doesn't matter what people look like - it's their characters that are important.
Also, Lorna Hill creates the most wonderful landscapes - it makes me want to go to Northumberland NOW!
She's very good at describing contrasts - the lights of a cottage against snow, a fire lighting up a lake for a midnight swim. Also how beautiful thoughts will inform your art.
'The first notes of Tchaikovsky's music were falling on the air like drops of ice tinkling into a crystal goblet. I saw in my imagination the snowy woods around Bracken Hall on a winter's day - the fir trees standing motionless, like enchanted princesses, their frosty arms outspread. I heard in my mind the church bells sounding thin and unreal in the cold, blue air. All this I thought of as I executed the crisp, clear-cut steps of that wonderful dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.'
2/10/16 read again late at night as an antidote to a horrible scary novel I'd just read. Worked a treat.
May 19, 2009
I'm still in love with Sebastian until noooooooow....
oh my childhood...........
oh my childhood...........
September 13, 2015
I read and re-read all the Sadlers Wells books. If there was one thing I loved more than ballet it was reading.
April 8, 2011
I have a lot of love for Lorna Hill. Yep the later ones in the series get a bit pedestrian, and yes the likelihood of one remote North-Eastern town producing a kazillion prima ballerinas does get a little tenuous. But this is the first in the series and possesses a fresh vivacious charm of its own. Veronica is a brilliant heroine; tempestuous, charismatic and vividly drawn.
And then there's Sebastian .... ;)
And then there's Sebastian .... ;)
March 5, 2008
Forced to live with her cousins at the back of beyond in Northumberland, orphaned Veronica, an aspiring ballerina, longs to return to London to study ballet at Sadler's Wells. Can she make her dream come true? And how do her cousins Fiona and Caroline, and their mysterious cousin Sebastian fit into her plans? Will they aid or impede her?
December 28, 2014
I got this for Christmas and I'm so glad I asked for it. Veronica is training to be a ballet dancer in London but her father dies and she has to move to the North to live with her remaining relatives which means she is taken away from her dance classes and has to put up with her mean cousin Fiona. On the plus side Veronica learns to appreciate the countryside and her cousins Caroline and Sebastian are much nicer than Fiona. She also learns to stand on her own two feet and grows stronger.
I am a big fan of ballet books but what I loved about this one was that it was about the heroine developing away from her ballet as well as practising it every day. She learns about life which is what all the best artists have to do as that is when they do their best work. I also loved the characters. Especially Sebastian who has his own secret and goes from telling off Fiona to being a cheeky chappie.
All in all a great book and fans of Noel Streatfeild or The Drina books will love this.
I am a big fan of ballet books but what I loved about this one was that it was about the heroine developing away from her ballet as well as practising it every day. She learns about life which is what all the best artists have to do as that is when they do their best work. I also loved the characters. Especially Sebastian who has his own secret and goes from telling off Fiona to being a cheeky chappie.
All in all a great book and fans of Noel Streatfeild or The Drina books will love this.
November 10, 2014
My absolutely favourite book when I was a little girl.
March 15, 2009
Veronica is a kind, generous, naive, spontaneous, intelligent, emotional girl with incredible passion. She lives to dance and anything that might stop her is a genuine tragedy. She is constantly up in the heights or down in the depths and her narrative convinces you that these things really are of the utmost importance.
As for the other characters - Caroline is lovely, Fiona is beautifully nasty - I don't think she ever says a positive word! As for Sebastian... arrogant, masterful and intolerant of people he dislikes, he is also intelligent, quick-thinking, unstintingly generous to those he likes. He may behave badly, but he also matures and grows out of some of his worst characteristics (in the next book, mostly). Oh, and did I mention he's totally gorgeous.....
As for the other characters - Caroline is lovely, Fiona is beautifully nasty - I don't think she ever says a positive word! As for Sebastian... arrogant, masterful and intolerant of people he dislikes, he is also intelligent, quick-thinking, unstintingly generous to those he likes. He may behave badly, but he also matures and grows out of some of his worst characteristics (in the next book, mostly). Oh, and did I mention he's totally gorgeous.....
April 16, 2019
One of those delightful, beautifully written children's books which has such a charming innocence about it. I loved Veronica's dreamy-eyed determination, and her love interest Sebastian was very funny and also so supportive of her ambitions. My only gripe was that I wished there had been more ballet in it, though I guess that will be in book two.
June 30, 2025
I have read and reread this book to pieces since being given it when I was ten or so, but sadly it's holding up less and less well (there is no subtlety to the characterization, and the narration by the main character rather to perky)....but probably I'll read it again in another 10 years or so, for the last time, because it has only one more read before it falls apart. I have to rate it four stars not just for nostalgia but for the lovely sense of place.
January 9, 2025
Interesting to read something along this vein that isn't Noel Streatfeild.
February 21, 2026
The books in this series are my ultimate comfort reads. They were my mum’s and I have read them so many times that I know every beat of them and the characters are so familiar they are like long lost relations. I haven’t read this for probably 10 years or more and although this is clearly a book for children and is twee and dated I loved every page.
January 18, 2008
Saya penggemar seni ballet walaupun saya bukan penari ballet. Jadi sewaktu saya menemukan buku ini yang bergambar seorang penari sedang mendekap sepatu balletnya langsung saya beli. Awalnya agak kecewa karena alur cerita berjalan lambat dan Veronica sang tokoh utama, tak kunjung menjadi penari. Tapi kemudian saya malah ketagihan membacanya.
Yang paling menarik dari buku ini justru menurut saya bukan dari segi tarian ballet itu sendiri. Melainkan bagaimana si pengarang menggambarkan detail kota London dan Northumberland, suatu pedesaan di utara Inggris saat itu. Sangat klasik dan indah. Saya bisa membayangkan tube, piccadily circus, hiruk pikuk kota London, dan juga suasana Sadler Wells yang sekarang menjadi Royal Ballet School, sekolah ballet ternama di Inggris. Untuk Northumberland sepertinya merupakan daerah pedesaan Inggris yang sangat indah, padang rumput dimana kita bisa berkuda, Roman's wall, danau yang dikelilingi pohon cemara, cocok dengan setting tarian balet klasik;)
A dream of Sadler Wells menceritakan Veronica seorang gadis berumur 15 tahun yang sangat mencintai ballet dan bercita-cita belajar ballet di Sadler Wells untuk menjadi ballerina terkenal. Namun sejak ayahnya meninggal, dia terpaksa pindah dari London untuk tinggal bersama kerabatnya di Northumberland. Hal ini membuat dia bingung karena tentu saja ia seperti harus melepas impiannya menjadi ballerina karena di Northumberland tidak ada Sadler Wells.
Namun di sana dia bertemu dengan Sebastian, seorang pemuda dengan bakat musik luar biasa yang juga bercita-cita menjadi komposer terkenal. Bersama Sebastian, walau jauh dari London Veronica berusaha mewujudkan kembali impiannya dengan satu-satunya cara yaitu lolos audisi masuk Sadler Wells.
Yang paling menarik dari buku ini justru menurut saya bukan dari segi tarian ballet itu sendiri. Melainkan bagaimana si pengarang menggambarkan detail kota London dan Northumberland, suatu pedesaan di utara Inggris saat itu. Sangat klasik dan indah. Saya bisa membayangkan tube, piccadily circus, hiruk pikuk kota London, dan juga suasana Sadler Wells yang sekarang menjadi Royal Ballet School, sekolah ballet ternama di Inggris. Untuk Northumberland sepertinya merupakan daerah pedesaan Inggris yang sangat indah, padang rumput dimana kita bisa berkuda, Roman's wall, danau yang dikelilingi pohon cemara, cocok dengan setting tarian balet klasik;)
A dream of Sadler Wells menceritakan Veronica seorang gadis berumur 15 tahun yang sangat mencintai ballet dan bercita-cita belajar ballet di Sadler Wells untuk menjadi ballerina terkenal. Namun sejak ayahnya meninggal, dia terpaksa pindah dari London untuk tinggal bersama kerabatnya di Northumberland. Hal ini membuat dia bingung karena tentu saja ia seperti harus melepas impiannya menjadi ballerina karena di Northumberland tidak ada Sadler Wells.
Namun di sana dia bertemu dengan Sebastian, seorang pemuda dengan bakat musik luar biasa yang juga bercita-cita menjadi komposer terkenal. Bersama Sebastian, walau jauh dari London Veronica berusaha mewujudkan kembali impiannya dengan satu-satunya cara yaitu lolos audisi masuk Sadler Wells.
October 14, 2020
I bought my copy of this secondhand (I suspect everyone must, now) and I reckon I'm only the book's second owner. Why? Well, this book was first published in 1951 and went through four reprints to my copy, from 1952. And inside I found a book token ... from 1957! I have no idea what I'd get for 3/6 5/- plus 4d for card if I tried to use it now, even with its claim that it's 'exchangeable at all good bookshops'. I wanted to stick in a photo, actually, but despite the amount of reaction .gifs with which people feel it acceptable to litter their reviews (PS DON'T) I can't figure out how. It's pretty cool, though!
The story itself veers between meh and delightful. Hill is describing a totally lost world, in a time when you had to wear a jockstrap (!!) to hold up your ballet tights because they weren't elasticated. IMAGINE!
All the female characters are one-note. Only Sebastian gets to be this weird, mercurial teenager. I'm sure Hill did not intend for me to come away feeling sorry for Fiona, but I do. I wanted to write fic about Fiona and Sebastian getting together when they've grown out of their pubertal antagonism, but I presume Sebastian ends up with Veronica. Although I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series, it's an ideal one for Kindle ... where it's not available. The bookseller had the whole series, but for books I can read in a day and then never again, it's a lot of shelf space.
The story itself veers between meh and delightful. Hill is describing a totally lost world, in a time when you had to wear a jockstrap (!!) to hold up your ballet tights because they weren't elasticated. IMAGINE!
All the female characters are one-note. Only Sebastian gets to be this weird, mercurial teenager. I'm sure Hill did not intend for me to come away feeling sorry for Fiona, but I do. I wanted to write fic about Fiona and Sebastian getting together when they've grown out of their pubertal antagonism, but I presume Sebastian ends up with Veronica. Although I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series, it's an ideal one for Kindle ... where it's not available. The bookseller had the whole series, but for books I can read in a day and then never again, it's a lot of shelf space.
September 9, 2018
I absolutely loved this book. Although considered a book for girls and not adults, this book proves any book is for anyone. Obviously as a person who loves the arts, I was attracted to it anyway but the story is such a breath of fresh air these days. Written without any pressures to do what many modern novels do which is to include political stances, beliefs, gender etc and just to write a good story was great. Originally written in 1972 I suppose it reflects the writing and books I read at that time. The standard of the writing is excellent too.
As usual I won't talk about the plot as there are plenty of those but just to give my take on the book overall. It's a simple plot and it was going to have the ending I expected it to but,in this case, it really was what mattered.
There are some really funny and well written moments. When Sebastian, Caroline and Veronica are trying to catch the donkey being one of them and another one where, shortly after, Fiona has locked them out of the greenhouse.
Although not a Chalet school type novel it does have that feeling about it. If the reader is looking for something similar to those, they may well enjoy this one. I bought it for 25p donation from a supermarket charity table and it was worth every penny of it. I shall pass it on to my mum as I know she too will enjoy it.
As usual I won't talk about the plot as there are plenty of those but just to give my take on the book overall. It's a simple plot and it was going to have the ending I expected it to but,in this case, it really was what mattered.
There are some really funny and well written moments. When Sebastian, Caroline and Veronica are trying to catch the donkey being one of them and another one where, shortly after, Fiona has locked them out of the greenhouse.
Although not a Chalet school type novel it does have that feeling about it. If the reader is looking for something similar to those, they may well enjoy this one. I bought it for 25p donation from a supermarket charity table and it was worth every penny of it. I shall pass it on to my mum as I know she too will enjoy it.
January 3, 2011
ditemuin ma yudha pas ngubek2 tobuk bekas setelah selesai piknik di taman kota BSD..
stelah dikasihin ke gw, yudha baru mikir, dia belum punya kenapa jg ngasih ke gw hihihihi.... makasih ya yud, muaaaaaaaah :p
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kisah ini dimulai saat veronica harus pindah dr london ke northumberland setelah ayahnya meninggal dunia..
dikereta menuju northumberland dia bertemu anak laki2, dan mereka berdua saling menceritakan impian2 rahasia mereka, karena mereka berpikir tidak akan bertemu lagi... ring a bell?
hehehehe mirip cerita can u keep a secret ya?, bedanya itu dipesawat.. juga dengan queen of babble , malah ini sama2 dikereta, bedanya isi rahasianya :p
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buku ini terbagi menjadi dua bagian.
Bagian pertama menceritakan usaha veronica menyesuaikan diri di tempat tinggal barunya, dengan sepupu-sepupunya, caroline dan fiona, juga sebastian.. si fiona ini, hadeeeeh, pengen nabok, pengen injek aja bawaannya ma ni anak.. culas banget.. paling suka kalo sebastian ngerjain fiona ampe si fiona ketakutan :p
Bagian kedua menceritakan usaha veronica berjuang untuk tetap belajar balet dan perjuangannya utk bisa menghadiri audisi di sadler well's london...
stelah dikasihin ke gw, yudha baru mikir, dia belum punya kenapa jg ngasih ke gw hihihihi.... makasih ya yud, muaaaaaaaah :p
----------------------------------------------------------------
kisah ini dimulai saat veronica harus pindah dr london ke northumberland setelah ayahnya meninggal dunia..
dikereta menuju northumberland dia bertemu anak laki2, dan mereka berdua saling menceritakan impian2 rahasia mereka, karena mereka berpikir tidak akan bertemu lagi... ring a bell?
hehehehe mirip cerita can u keep a secret ya?, bedanya itu dipesawat.. juga dengan queen of babble , malah ini sama2 dikereta, bedanya isi rahasianya :p
-------------
buku ini terbagi menjadi dua bagian.
Bagian pertama menceritakan usaha veronica menyesuaikan diri di tempat tinggal barunya, dengan sepupu-sepupunya, caroline dan fiona, juga sebastian.. si fiona ini, hadeeeeh, pengen nabok, pengen injek aja bawaannya ma ni anak.. culas banget.. paling suka kalo sebastian ngerjain fiona ampe si fiona ketakutan :p
Bagian kedua menceritakan usaha veronica berjuang untuk tetap belajar balet dan perjuangannya utk bisa menghadiri audisi di sadler well's london...
October 9, 2014
I only read the first four Sadlers Wells books as a child - but when I was about 16 I discovered a copy of Swan Feather in the library and so found that there were lots of books by Lorna Hill.
This is the first, and it still appeals. Narrated by Veronica, and capturing exactly the style of a teenage girl, it's a good story, and (commendably) skips out the boring bits, so there aren't any (the first chapter of part two is called 'One year later', and what matters from that year is covered in a few paragraphs as Veronica reflects).
It also combines the winning elements of ballet and ponies. I have always liked the idea of both, imagining myself as a top ballerina who canters about the countryside in her spare time. So in that respect the book is very satisfying.
I have never found Sebastian particularly swoon-worthy myself - he's not as bad as Guy, Lorna Hill's other hero, but he's a bit too commanding and temperamental for my taste. This does, though, fit with his destiny as a top conductor. Fiona is just awful but then she's supposed to be.
It's not great literature but it's fun. And come on - ballet and ponies - what's not to like?
This is the first, and it still appeals. Narrated by Veronica, and capturing exactly the style of a teenage girl, it's a good story, and (commendably) skips out the boring bits, so there aren't any (the first chapter of part two is called 'One year later', and what matters from that year is covered in a few paragraphs as Veronica reflects).
It also combines the winning elements of ballet and ponies. I have always liked the idea of both, imagining myself as a top ballerina who canters about the countryside in her spare time. So in that respect the book is very satisfying.
I have never found Sebastian particularly swoon-worthy myself - he's not as bad as Guy, Lorna Hill's other hero, but he's a bit too commanding and temperamental for my taste. This does, though, fit with his destiny as a top conductor. Fiona is just awful but then she's supposed to be.
It's not great literature but it's fun. And come on - ballet and ponies - what's not to like?
August 25, 2015
Joj saj vem da je otročje ampak ta knjiga mi je bila vedno všeč in ravno sem jo ponovno prebrala. Moram reči, da sem bila kar presenečena nad tem, kako dobro je v resnici napisana. Nič dih jemajočega ali literarno osupljivega, ampak res dobro, opisi so zelo slikoviti in prepričljivi, karakterji pa živi in zabavni. Revščina, bogastvo, prijaznost, napuh, pustolovščine, balet - polno vsega tega. Ne morem si pomagati, da ne bi bila očarana in da se ne bi zabavala ob Sebastijanovih šalah, se zgražala nad Fiono in občudovala Veroniko, ko trenira in pleše.
May 13, 2012
In terms of a children's book, it has a great story but it is very old and the language really dated which i liked (this is how children spoke in books when i was growing up and I thought it was how i should jolly well talk :-))
In terms of would I let my daughter read this book - only with lots of discussion and guidance - it's like chick lit for little girls (altho the concept wasn't around when Lorna Hill was writing).
In terms of would I let my daughter read this book - only with lots of discussion and guidance - it's like chick lit for little girls (altho the concept wasn't around when Lorna Hill was writing).
August 26, 2012
First read it when I was in elementary school, and it made me fall in love with series. This book made me want to have a boyfriend like Sebastian. Witty and musically-talented. I found the almost-complete series of the Sadler's Wells book in a vintage bookstore almost 20 years later, but the latter books cannot surpass the first two books. Too bad a friend lost my first book of the series in junior high. Would anybody suggest where I can get it here in Indonesia? I would love to read it again!
December 4, 2013
I have almost finished this series, which I should have read as a teenager, if I had known of it's existence...I had taken ballet classes at a young age and loved them so this brought back those years to life..the books are fresh and lovely, geared to teens from about age 15 and up, but still entertaining for adults...the first and second books were my favourites, but I actually enjoyed them all...
September 6, 2011
dulu minjem punya kakak ;D
tapi dulu bacanya yang versi bahasa indonesia.. yang covernya beda
kisah panjang perjuangan seorang balerina yang berusaha mewujudkan impiannya untuk menjadi tokoh utama dalam sebuah pentas balet.
rating ini diberikan berdasarkan persepsi saya sekitar 8 tahun yang lalu, mungkin kalo baca sekarang rasanya udah beda.
cukup berkesan.
tapi dulu bacanya yang versi bahasa indonesia.. yang covernya beda
kisah panjang perjuangan seorang balerina yang berusaha mewujudkan impiannya untuk menjadi tokoh utama dalam sebuah pentas balet.
rating ini diberikan berdasarkan persepsi saya sekitar 8 tahun yang lalu, mungkin kalo baca sekarang rasanya udah beda.
cukup berkesan.
February 24, 2015
This was one of my favourite childhood/teenage books. I got it handed down from my older cousin, I would love to know if it is still in print as I'd like my daughters to read it. I don't know what happened to my copy. It's an absolute classic and it should be much more well known as a mainstay of teen literature.
November 19, 2008
I love the way the men in these books are always so masterful and witty, and all the women a bit sort of naive and passionately idealistic, to the point where they're always getting into heroic but silly scrapes that the men have to come and rescue them from.
May 10, 2009
I never really cared for the Sadler's Wells series, which is odd considering what a ballet nut I was. But this one was okay. (The Drina series is by far better though.)
April 10, 2009
Cute, but slightly preposterous tale of an English girl who would like to become a ballet student in the 1950s.
March 23, 2013
I wish there were more books about ballet like this! Absolutely a young dancers dream to be this character.
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