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Sadler's Wells #4
Drzna zamenjava
Mariella loves animals and the country - her cousin Jane lives for the ballet, so why not switch places and let Jane audition for a coveted place at Sadler's Wells Ballet School while Mariella lives in the country and improves her horsemanship? It seems like a great idea until too many people learn their secret...
169 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1952
2 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Lorna Hill
62 books51 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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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 18, 2025
Lorna Hill’s connection with ballet was through her daughter, for whom she started writing stories when Vicki was about ten years old. When Vicki left home to become a ballet student at Sadler’s Wells in London, Lorna Hill began to write her “Sadler’s Wells” series of books for young teenagers.
Masquerade at the Wells is the fourth book in this series, as it says on the title page “A sequel to ‘A Dream at Sadlers Wells’ and ‘Veronica at the Wells’”. The unnamed third book is “No Castanets at the Wells” which, although written later, does not follow sequentially but fits between the books.
Masquerade at the Wells is carefully structured on the same lines as its predecessor “No Castanet at the Wells”. That one takes place over 3 years; divided into sections: “The First Year” and then subsections “Winter” and “Summer”. Each year follows this form, with between 3 and 6 chapters within each subsection. Whereas Caroline Scott narrated the first two sections, Sebastian Scott narrated the final one. Masquerade at the Wells also has three sections over several years, and two narrators. Again, the first two are the viewpoint character (in this case Jane Foster) telling of events over a couple of years, and the final section is by Mariella Foster, from a point in the future, telling of what happened to her in the years in between. It is quite a clever device, revealing more about the different characters than a single perspective could.
When I began to read these at 12 or perhaps 13, I read whatever happened to be on the library shelf, and therefore came across the characters completely out of order! Since there are two family trees in the beginning of the books - the Scott family tree and the Monkhouse family tree - these did tend to act as spoilers. For some reason these are not adapted to the contents, so that even in the early books we can quite clearly see which dancers will be together when they are older. The series is one I loved as a young teenager, although mostly the characters’ background were very different from my own.
In Masquerade at the Wells for instance, the protagonist Jane Foster is part of a wealthy family. She tells us how much she loves living in their huge old country home “Monk’s Hollow” in Northumberland, surrounded by the beauties of Nature. However her ambitious parents want her to become a vet, and Jane is not at all sure about this. She is rather nervous of the horses her mother enthuses about, and does not think she will be clever enough, either.
Jane’s mother though assumes that Jane loves horses and riding as much as she did when she was 12. For her birthday present, Jane is given a pony called Firefly. He is a young, lively pony, and well-named. When Firefly gets frisky and shows the whites of his eyes, Jane is even more scared, but doesn’t feel she can tell anyone that she much prefers to ride her docile old horse, Dapple. She easily gets distracted from riding by daydreaming:
“how graceful the larch boughs were in Spring, like delicately pointed fingers. Or how black the fir woods looked against the pale evening sky. Or how the trees and woods, standing out, clear, in the frosty winter twilight, with Raven’s Eyrie, lightly powdered with snow, towering above, looked like one of those Japanese paintings on Mummy’s tea-service, all pastel colours, greys and sepias, with a hint of blue and russet,”
and of course knowing that she is not paying attention, the frisky young pony Firefly throws her.
Things become increasingly worse when Jane’s mother notices that she is not riding her lovely new pony, and her cousin Nigel Monkhouse is asked to help Jane with her riding skills. But Nigel is the son of squire Monkhouse, and supremely confident in both his position and his abilities (a noticeable feature of several teenage boys in this series: Sebastian Scott the composer, and Josef Linsk the dancer might have good reason, but Guy Charlton, Fiona’s rich boyfriend in the second book is merely vain and rather stupid. There are more personable young men though, such as Angelo Ibáñez in “Castanets at the Wells”).
Nigel expresses himself as perfectly willing to help, but since he thinks a lot of himself and is two years older than Jane, he is bossy, and his impatience makes Jane feel even more clumsy and hopeless. Nigel tries to bully her into jumping before she feels ready. Jane refuses, and the gardener defends her. However Jane is miserable, and only really happy when is is on her own, dreamily wandering around the countryside.
When her mother notices that Jane is getting round-shouldered, Jane’s father suggests that ballet lessons might help. His sister is the world-famous prima ballerina at Sadler’s Wells: Irma Foster. Jane’s mother investigates various local schools, but it is all unknown territory for her. Mr Foster suggest that he asks his sister to come and stay for a visit, since her daughter Mariella is about the same age as Jane. Jane’s mother is not very keen on the idea, but the plan goes ahead.
When her cousin Mariella Foster arrives, the two get along very well. Their lives are quite different. Irma Foster is often on tour with the ballet, and her father, the famous critic Harold Foster, tends to closet himself in his library all day. As the richest ballet family in London, they live in Fortnum Mansions, with all London's Art scene on their doorstep, and have all their meals sent up from the restaurant. Mariella learns at home from private tutors. It could not be more different from Jane’s spacious open-air life.
Mariella is overwhelmed by the beauty of Jane’s home and the countryside, and tells Jane she lives in a lovely place:
“And suddenly I realised that it was true. Monk’s Hollow was a gorgeous place. Especially beautiful it looked in the early morning sunshine, with the folds of misty, purple moorland rising steeply to the west, and the jagged peak of Raven’s Eyrie standing out black against the sky. A sombre little fir wood sheltered the house from the cold north winds, and a field of corn, with a fringe of scarlet poppies at its edge, rippled right up to the very gates. A peaty burn leapt gurgling from the moorland above, and fell tinkling into a mossy stone trough outside the stable door. It was called the Hallow Burn, and people said that it got its name from the monastery that used to be on the hill-side near. You could still see some of the stones of the latter, half-buried in the sheep-nibbled turf. They also said that Monks Hollow was Monks Hallow for the same reason.
The house, itself, was lovely too. It was built of grey stone. The roof was stone, as well, and the heavy slabs looked as if they could withstand any number of border raids, sieges, and burnings. On the south side of the house, all was smooth lawns, and civilised gardens, but on the north, the heather and bracken crept under the gates, and wild thyme filled up the cracks in the old, drystone walls.“
Mariella falls in love with Firefly too, and cannot believe that Jane is lucky enough to have two horses. She seems to have a natural affinity for them, and Firefly in particular responds much better to her than he does to Jane. But Jane thinks it must be marvellous to live in London, with all the activity around. They realise that their positions are oddly similar. Mariella yearns to ride, but her mother wants her to be a ballet dancer like her, so will not allow her to ride in case she falls and breaks a leg, which can have very serious consequences for a ballet dancer.
When Nigel comes to help Jane, it seems obvious to all of them that Mariella will not be satisfied until she has tried riding for herself. She proves fearless and has a natural ability, so Nigel is soon able to teach Mariella to ride. Jane for her part is very happy to have the attention taken away from her. Nigel admires Mariella’s confidence, but events soon show that Jane is just as brave in her own way,
The three become good friends, and this section of the book is interesting, following their lives. One chapter is all about Borcovicus - now more often called “Housesteads Roman Fort” - which was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian’s Wall, at Housesteads in Northumberland. It had been abandoned c. 400 AD. The older Nigel shows the two cousins round, and is able to show that he is quite knowledgeable about history.
The turning point in Jane’s story comes when Mariella’s mother arrives from being on tour. Mrs Foster picks her up in the car at Newcastle station, Mariella tells her of Taglioni, who she says was: “almost a cripple until she begun to dance but became a world famous dancer”. This famous dancer was born to a ballet family in 1834, and in real life she did have a rounded back that caused her to lean forward, and had “slightly distorted proportions”. Nevertheless over years of practice she attained international success and was the first ballerina to truly dance “en pointe”. Soon Mariella has to return to London, but the two cousins promise to write. In Newcastle Jane works hard at dancing, desperate to visit London.
There is a lot of technical information about ballet in the end of the first section, and it was interesting to see Lorna Hill referring to the essential manual of the time “First Steps in Ballet” by Ruth French and Felix Demery published in 1952.
The second section takes place two years later, when Jane at last has the chance to go to London. If you have read the blurb you will know what happens! forms the rest of the second section. We meet several interesting characters in the Junior company, both the dancers and the teachers, and temperament is rife! We are rooting for Jane to succeed, and the third section by Mariella describes the next few years in retrospect.
So there is not one masquerade but two, in this story. It is a very satisfying read, with engaging characters.
Masquerade at the Wells was originally published in 1952, but regularly went through several different editions at least until 1996. The most recent edition was in 2023 by “Girls Gone By”. This publisher re-publishes selected titles from the twentieth century, concentrating on those which are most popular and sought after, but difficult to find on the second-hand market. The authors chosen are mostly female, and the main characters are young girls, with the stories often set in a school of some type.
Apart from accessibility and price, another attraction is that these new editions are in facsimile: not only using the complete and unabridged text from the first edition, but also all the illustrations. Since the early books in the Sadlers Wells series were illustrated by the famous ballet illustrator Eve Guthrie, these limited print runs quickly sell out, and now the new editions are themselves sought after - an unusual situation for a reprint publisher. Often one book in a series has sold out before the next book is ready.
Each title includes an introduction by a specialist in the field, and a publishing history which includes illustrations of all the different editions. My copy here though is an original (reprinted in 1955) so I cannot comment on the additions.
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, and played the piano. I soon became totally immersed in Lorna Hill’s world, 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 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. We may be in the world of ballet, but this is no heavily romanticised fairytale world. It is not a world full of glitter and pink tutus, but a world where the exhausted dancers have sore feet, and spend their spare time mending their leotards and darning their shoes to give them strength. They are real people in the real world, and although the final end ballet is undeniably romantic, the way there is dauntingly hard.
Only a very few will have what it takes to be successful, and through talent, hard work and determination succeed to the coveted position of prima ballerina for Sadler’s Wells ballet. As a consequence, they will then inevitably dedicate their entire life to dancing, for only then do they truly come alive. It makes for compelling reading, and is a laudable approach to life, for anyone who is inclined to devote their life to Art. A casual reader might assume that ballet books from this era are elitist, and perhaps exploitative. Perhaps though assumptions like this are just as erroneous. This series is far more about individualism, developing one’s talents and seeking one’s own path.
Here are links to my reviews of the first three books:
A Dream of Sadler’s Wells
Veronica at the Wells
No Castanets at the Wells
Masquerade at the Wells is the fourth book in this series, as it says on the title page “A sequel to ‘A Dream at Sadlers Wells’ and ‘Veronica at the Wells’”. The unnamed third book is “No Castanets at the Wells” which, although written later, does not follow sequentially but fits between the books.
Masquerade at the Wells is carefully structured on the same lines as its predecessor “No Castanet at the Wells”. That one takes place over 3 years; divided into sections: “The First Year” and then subsections “Winter” and “Summer”. Each year follows this form, with between 3 and 6 chapters within each subsection. Whereas Caroline Scott narrated the first two sections, Sebastian Scott narrated the final one. Masquerade at the Wells also has three sections over several years, and two narrators. Again, the first two are the viewpoint character (in this case Jane Foster) telling of events over a couple of years, and the final section is by Mariella Foster, from a point in the future, telling of what happened to her in the years in between. It is quite a clever device, revealing more about the different characters than a single perspective could.
When I began to read these at 12 or perhaps 13, I read whatever happened to be on the library shelf, and therefore came across the characters completely out of order! Since there are two family trees in the beginning of the books - the Scott family tree and the Monkhouse family tree - these did tend to act as spoilers. For some reason these are not adapted to the contents, so that even in the early books we can quite clearly see which dancers will be together when they are older. The series is one I loved as a young teenager, although mostly the characters’ background were very different from my own.
In Masquerade at the Wells for instance, the protagonist Jane Foster is part of a wealthy family. She tells us how much she loves living in their huge old country home “Monk’s Hollow” in Northumberland, surrounded by the beauties of Nature. However her ambitious parents want her to become a vet, and Jane is not at all sure about this. She is rather nervous of the horses her mother enthuses about, and does not think she will be clever enough, either.
Jane’s mother though assumes that Jane loves horses and riding as much as she did when she was 12. For her birthday present, Jane is given a pony called Firefly. He is a young, lively pony, and well-named. When Firefly gets frisky and shows the whites of his eyes, Jane is even more scared, but doesn’t feel she can tell anyone that she much prefers to ride her docile old horse, Dapple. She easily gets distracted from riding by daydreaming:
“how graceful the larch boughs were in Spring, like delicately pointed fingers. Or how black the fir woods looked against the pale evening sky. Or how the trees and woods, standing out, clear, in the frosty winter twilight, with Raven’s Eyrie, lightly powdered with snow, towering above, looked like one of those Japanese paintings on Mummy’s tea-service, all pastel colours, greys and sepias, with a hint of blue and russet,”
and of course knowing that she is not paying attention, the frisky young pony Firefly throws her.
Things become increasingly worse when Jane’s mother notices that she is not riding her lovely new pony, and her cousin Nigel Monkhouse is asked to help Jane with her riding skills. But Nigel is the son of squire Monkhouse, and supremely confident in both his position and his abilities (a noticeable feature of several teenage boys in this series: Sebastian Scott the composer, and Josef Linsk the dancer might have good reason, but Guy Charlton, Fiona’s rich boyfriend in the second book is merely vain and rather stupid. There are more personable young men though, such as Angelo Ibáñez in “Castanets at the Wells”).
Nigel expresses himself as perfectly willing to help, but since he thinks a lot of himself and is two years older than Jane, he is bossy, and his impatience makes Jane feel even more clumsy and hopeless. Nigel tries to bully her into jumping before she feels ready. Jane refuses, and the gardener defends her. However Jane is miserable, and only really happy when is is on her own, dreamily wandering around the countryside.
When her mother notices that Jane is getting round-shouldered, Jane’s father suggests that ballet lessons might help. His sister is the world-famous prima ballerina at Sadler’s Wells: Irma Foster. Jane’s mother investigates various local schools, but it is all unknown territory for her. Mr Foster suggest that he asks his sister to come and stay for a visit, since her daughter Mariella is about the same age as Jane. Jane’s mother is not very keen on the idea, but the plan goes ahead.
When her cousin Mariella Foster arrives, the two get along very well. Their lives are quite different. Irma Foster is often on tour with the ballet, and her father, the famous critic Harold Foster, tends to closet himself in his library all day. As the richest ballet family in London, they live in Fortnum Mansions, with all London's Art scene on their doorstep, and have all their meals sent up from the restaurant. Mariella learns at home from private tutors. It could not be more different from Jane’s spacious open-air life.
Mariella is overwhelmed by the beauty of Jane’s home and the countryside, and tells Jane she lives in a lovely place:
“And suddenly I realised that it was true. Monk’s Hollow was a gorgeous place. Especially beautiful it looked in the early morning sunshine, with the folds of misty, purple moorland rising steeply to the west, and the jagged peak of Raven’s Eyrie standing out black against the sky. A sombre little fir wood sheltered the house from the cold north winds, and a field of corn, with a fringe of scarlet poppies at its edge, rippled right up to the very gates. A peaty burn leapt gurgling from the moorland above, and fell tinkling into a mossy stone trough outside the stable door. It was called the Hallow Burn, and people said that it got its name from the monastery that used to be on the hill-side near. You could still see some of the stones of the latter, half-buried in the sheep-nibbled turf. They also said that Monks Hollow was Monks Hallow for the same reason.
The house, itself, was lovely too. It was built of grey stone. The roof was stone, as well, and the heavy slabs looked as if they could withstand any number of border raids, sieges, and burnings. On the south side of the house, all was smooth lawns, and civilised gardens, but on the north, the heather and bracken crept under the gates, and wild thyme filled up the cracks in the old, drystone walls.“
Mariella falls in love with Firefly too, and cannot believe that Jane is lucky enough to have two horses. She seems to have a natural affinity for them, and Firefly in particular responds much better to her than he does to Jane. But Jane thinks it must be marvellous to live in London, with all the activity around. They realise that their positions are oddly similar. Mariella yearns to ride, but her mother wants her to be a ballet dancer like her, so will not allow her to ride in case she falls and breaks a leg, which can have very serious consequences for a ballet dancer.
When Nigel comes to help Jane, it seems obvious to all of them that Mariella will not be satisfied until she has tried riding for herself. She proves fearless and has a natural ability, so Nigel is soon able to teach Mariella to ride. Jane for her part is very happy to have the attention taken away from her. Nigel admires Mariella’s confidence, but events soon show that Jane is just as brave in her own way,
The three become good friends, and this section of the book is interesting, following their lives. One chapter is all about Borcovicus - now more often called “Housesteads Roman Fort” - which was an auxiliary fort on Hadrian’s Wall, at Housesteads in Northumberland. It had been abandoned c. 400 AD. The older Nigel shows the two cousins round, and is able to show that he is quite knowledgeable about history.
The turning point in Jane’s story comes when Mariella’s mother arrives from being on tour. Mrs Foster picks her up in the car at Newcastle station, Mariella tells her of Taglioni, who she says was: “almost a cripple until she begun to dance but became a world famous dancer”. This famous dancer was born to a ballet family in 1834, and in real life she did have a rounded back that caused her to lean forward, and had “slightly distorted proportions”. Nevertheless over years of practice she attained international success and was the first ballerina to truly dance “en pointe”. Soon Mariella has to return to London, but the two cousins promise to write. In Newcastle Jane works hard at dancing, desperate to visit London.
There is a lot of technical information about ballet in the end of the first section, and it was interesting to see Lorna Hill referring to the essential manual of the time “First Steps in Ballet” by Ruth French and Felix Demery published in 1952.
The second section takes place two years later, when Jane at last has the chance to go to London. If you have read the blurb you will know what happens! forms the rest of the second section. We meet several interesting characters in the Junior company, both the dancers and the teachers, and temperament is rife! We are rooting for Jane to succeed, and the third section by Mariella describes the next few years in retrospect.
So there is not one masquerade but two, in this story. It is a very satisfying read, with engaging characters.
Masquerade at the Wells was originally published in 1952, but regularly went through several different editions at least until 1996. The most recent edition was in 2023 by “Girls Gone By”. This publisher re-publishes selected titles from the twentieth century, concentrating on those which are most popular and sought after, but difficult to find on the second-hand market. The authors chosen are mostly female, and the main characters are young girls, with the stories often set in a school of some type.
Apart from accessibility and price, another attraction is that these new editions are in facsimile: not only using the complete and unabridged text from the first edition, but also all the illustrations. Since the early books in the Sadlers Wells series were illustrated by the famous ballet illustrator Eve Guthrie, these limited print runs quickly sell out, and now the new editions are themselves sought after - an unusual situation for a reprint publisher. Often one book in a series has sold out before the next book is ready.
Each title includes an introduction by a specialist in the field, and a publishing history which includes illustrations of all the different editions. My copy here though is an original (reprinted in 1955) so I cannot comment on the additions.
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, and played the piano. I soon became totally immersed in Lorna Hill’s world, 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 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. We may be in the world of ballet, but this is no heavily romanticised fairytale world. It is not a world full of glitter and pink tutus, but a world where the exhausted dancers have sore feet, and spend their spare time mending their leotards and darning their shoes to give them strength. They are real people in the real world, and although the final end ballet is undeniably romantic, the way there is dauntingly hard.
Only a very few will have what it takes to be successful, and through talent, hard work and determination succeed to the coveted position of prima ballerina for Sadler’s Wells ballet. As a consequence, they will then inevitably dedicate their entire life to dancing, for only then do they truly come alive. It makes for compelling reading, and is a laudable approach to life, for anyone who is inclined to devote their life to Art. A casual reader might assume that ballet books from this era are elitist, and perhaps exploitative. Perhaps though assumptions like this are just as erroneous. This series is far more about individualism, developing one’s talents and seeking one’s own path.
Here are links to my reviews of the first three books:
A Dream of Sadler’s Wells
Veronica at the Wells
No Castanets at the Wells
November 5, 2017
Although 'Masquerade' was written before 'No Castanets,' and doesn't even mention Caroline (the action being firmly centred on Jane and Mariella), an overlapping time frame across both novels is definitely discernible.
Jane is a likeable character, but she lacks strong characterisation and her adventures appear less enthralling than Veronica or Caroline's; in contrast, Mariella is almost too strong (which is why her much later mooning around over Nigel is particularly exasperating!), but Hill still provides fabulous escapism - even when developing the plot towards an almost unbelievable finale! Suspend belief (or is it disbelief? - I'm never sure which!) for an effortless five stars in entertainment value.
Jane is a likeable character, but she lacks strong characterisation and her adventures appear less enthralling than Veronica or Caroline's; in contrast, Mariella is almost too strong (which is why her much later mooning around over Nigel is particularly exasperating!), but Hill still provides fabulous escapism - even when developing the plot towards an almost unbelievable finale! Suspend belief (or is it disbelief? - I'm never sure which!) for an effortless five stars in entertainment value.
August 26, 2019
Published in 1952, yet the tale could fit easily into the 1970s. Surprisingly - because Hill was a prolific author - I had not read any of her other books. This is probably because I was keener on horses and fantasy than on ballet and schoolgirls' stories. Approaching the Sadlers Wells series as an adult will give a different experience than as a young person, so I suggest the ballet series should be given to young dancers early.
Jane lives in a country house with two ponies and she finds life pretty boring, with a young lad who is bossy and showoff her nearest neighbour. Her cousin Mariella comes to stay and finds the life enchanting, and in turn Jane stays with Mariella in London. Mariella's mother is a famous ballet artiste, now retired and is pushing her daughter to a ballet career; Mariella doesn't want that life. Some years elapse as Jane gets ballet training and boldly Mariella then asks Jane to swap places in an audition for Sadlers Wells ballet school. We do not see much of the inside of the school and almost all that part of the tale is reported as Jane tells her cousin what has happened.
I am shelving this book as horse fiction too because we get quite as much content about ponies as about ballet. I enjoyed the read which is full of character, and I would read more by this author. This is an unbiased review.
Jane lives in a country house with two ponies and she finds life pretty boring, with a young lad who is bossy and showoff her nearest neighbour. Her cousin Mariella comes to stay and finds the life enchanting, and in turn Jane stays with Mariella in London. Mariella's mother is a famous ballet artiste, now retired and is pushing her daughter to a ballet career; Mariella doesn't want that life. Some years elapse as Jane gets ballet training and boldly Mariella then asks Jane to swap places in an audition for Sadlers Wells ballet school. We do not see much of the inside of the school and almost all that part of the tale is reported as Jane tells her cousin what has happened.
I am shelving this book as horse fiction too because we get quite as much content about ponies as about ballet. I enjoyed the read which is full of character, and I would read more by this author. This is an unbiased review.
June 22, 2009
Mariella's mother is the famous ballerina, Irma Foster, and she is expected to follow in her mother's ballet slippers. Her cousin Jane lives in the country and Jane's parents have always hoped she would become a vet, although they allowed her to take ballet lessons (to cure her round shoulders) without realizing Jane is a born dancer. When Mariella came to visit Jane in Monks Hollow she learned to love dogs and horses and outdoor life more than London.
Then Jane visits Mariella in London and takes a guest lesson with Mariella's Russian ballet master where she earns flattering attention from the maestro. This gives Mariella the idea to let Jane take her audition for the Sadler's Wells School. The audition is a success and Jane starts taking classes *and* learns to answer to Mariella. All goes well until one of Irma Foster's friends drops by and says she's never seen "Mariella" before... Once Jane's true identity is revealed how can she stay on at the Wells? Or will she be sent home to Northumberland in disgrace?
Then Jane visits Mariella in London and takes a guest lesson with Mariella's Russian ballet master where she earns flattering attention from the maestro. This gives Mariella the idea to let Jane take her audition for the Sadler's Wells School. The audition is a success and Jane starts taking classes *and* learns to answer to Mariella. All goes well until one of Irma Foster's friends drops by and says she's never seen "Mariella" before... Once Jane's true identity is revealed how can she stay on at the Wells? Or will she be sent home to Northumberland in disgrace?
December 5, 2023
Mariella is a trained dancer with a ballerina for a mother but she prefers the country and her dreams come true when she spends time in Northumberland riding horses in the countryside. Jane, her cousin, hates riding but longs to learn ballet so they swap - Jane pretends to be Mariella at her Sadler’s Wells audition.
This isn’t the strongest book in the series but I will take ANYTHING Sadler’s Wells. This has lovely updates on Veronica and Sebastian. I wish we’d got more books with them as main characters, they were incredible. I think the one problem this book is that Mariella is just a stronger character and it’s hard to care for Jane. The dance parts were breathtaking as usual.
This isn’t the strongest book in the series but I will take ANYTHING Sadler’s Wells. This has lovely updates on Veronica and Sebastian. I wish we’d got more books with them as main characters, they were incredible. I think the one problem this book is that Mariella is just a stronger character and it’s hard to care for Jane. The dance parts were breathtaking as usual.
December 31, 2025
Re-reading your favourite childhood books is so cuuuutsie 🥹
November 14, 2011
ini buku keempat, kalo kata gramedia :p
dibuku keempat ini tokoh utamanya Jane Foster, sama seperti Caroline (buku tiga), dia dari Northumberland, sebuah desa dekat Newcastle.
Jane suka menari, tapi ibunya menginginkan dia menjadi dokter hewan, padahal melihat kuda mengibaskan ekornya aja dia takut :p
Jane memiliki seorang sepupu, Mariella, ibunya seorang ballerina terkenal, Irma Foster. Bibi Irma menginginkan Mariella mengikuti jejaknya dan menjadi seorang ballerina, tapi mariella malah lebih senang berkuda..
Ketika utk pertama kalinya Mariella berlibur dirumah Jane di Northumberland, Mariella iri dengan kehidupan Jane, begitupun sebaliknya, ketika Jane melihat Mariella yg setiap hari berlatih ballet, dia pun iri.. Sepulangnya mariella kembali ke London, Jane belajar balet di studio miss martin, tempat veronica dan caroline belajar dulu, kemajuan Jane sangat pesat, sampai2 mariella kaget ketika berlatih bersama dengannya saat jane berlibur di London. Dan timbullah ide itu, Mariella menginginkan Jane mengisi tempatnya di audisi Sadler Well’s , dan ketika jane berhasil, ia pun mengikuti pelajaran di sana sampai liburannya di London berakhir. Itu rencana mereka, tapi ternyata sebelum liburan berakhir terjadilah kekacauan itu..
Ini sedikit cupilikan dr surat Jane utk Miss Martin, setelah kekacauan itu terjadi..
Eh lupa bawa bukunya, ga jadi deh hehehehhe…besok aja ya :D
ada keanehan saat saya membaca buku ini, kenapa Jane dan Nigel sepupunya tidak kenal dengan Veronica dan Sebastian, padahal mereka satu desa.. dan caroline pun tidak disebut2 di buku ini... hmmmm....
*tepok jidat didit* oh iya, terbitnya kan duluan ini dr pada Tak Ada Kastanyet Di Wells, pantes aja mereka ga kenal, lah kisahnya caroline belum dibikin.. tapi kenapa ga kenal veronica dan sebastian? *tetep bingung*
dibuku keempat ini tokoh utamanya Jane Foster, sama seperti Caroline (buku tiga), dia dari Northumberland, sebuah desa dekat Newcastle.
Jane suka menari, tapi ibunya menginginkan dia menjadi dokter hewan, padahal melihat kuda mengibaskan ekornya aja dia takut :p
Jane memiliki seorang sepupu, Mariella, ibunya seorang ballerina terkenal, Irma Foster. Bibi Irma menginginkan Mariella mengikuti jejaknya dan menjadi seorang ballerina, tapi mariella malah lebih senang berkuda..
Ketika utk pertama kalinya Mariella berlibur dirumah Jane di Northumberland, Mariella iri dengan kehidupan Jane, begitupun sebaliknya, ketika Jane melihat Mariella yg setiap hari berlatih ballet, dia pun iri.. Sepulangnya mariella kembali ke London, Jane belajar balet di studio miss martin, tempat veronica dan caroline belajar dulu, kemajuan Jane sangat pesat, sampai2 mariella kaget ketika berlatih bersama dengannya saat jane berlibur di London. Dan timbullah ide itu, Mariella menginginkan Jane mengisi tempatnya di audisi Sadler Well’s , dan ketika jane berhasil, ia pun mengikuti pelajaran di sana sampai liburannya di London berakhir. Itu rencana mereka, tapi ternyata sebelum liburan berakhir terjadilah kekacauan itu..
Ini sedikit cupilikan dr surat Jane utk Miss Martin, setelah kekacauan itu terjadi..
Eh lupa bawa bukunya, ga jadi deh hehehehhe…
ada keanehan saat saya membaca buku ini, kenapa Jane dan Nigel sepupunya tidak kenal dengan Veronica dan Sebastian, padahal mereka satu desa.. dan caroline pun tidak disebut2 di buku ini... hmmmm....
*tepok jidat didit* oh iya, terbitnya kan duluan ini dr pada Tak Ada Kastanyet Di Wells, pantes aja mereka ga kenal, lah kisahnya caroline belum dibikin.. tapi kenapa ga kenal veronica dan sebastian? *tetep bingung*
January 18, 2008
Mungin dari 4 seri Sadler Wells yang saya baca, buku ke empat ini merupakan favorit saya.
Bercerita tentang Jane dan Mariella, keduanya adalah saudara sepupu sebaya yang hidup dalam dunia yang berbeda. Jane tinggal di Northumberland, kedua orang tuanya penggila kuda dan memiliki berbagai prestasi di arena pacuan kuda. Sementara Jane sendiri takut dan membenci kuda karena sedari kecil Jane dipaksa naik kuda oleh kedua orang tuanya dan sepupunya, Nigel. Justru Jane sangat menggemari dunia ballet dan ingin menjadi ballerina.
Mariella Foster adalah putri tunggal dari seorang ballerina terkenal, Irma Foster, dan kritikus yang disegani, Oscar Deveraux. Mariella muak dengan segala latihan balletnya. Diam-diam dia menyimpan minat pada olahraga berkuda dan begitu menikmati saat-saat dia berkuda di London. Mariella menginginkan berkuda di padang rumput yang luas.
Hidup mereka berubah 180 derajat ketika Mariella menyuruh Jane menggantikannya audisi di Wells dengan mengaku sebagai Jane Foster. Sementara Mariella sendiri pergi ke tempat Jane di Northumberland dimana dia bisa berkuda sesuai impiannya.
Bercerita tentang Jane dan Mariella, keduanya adalah saudara sepupu sebaya yang hidup dalam dunia yang berbeda. Jane tinggal di Northumberland, kedua orang tuanya penggila kuda dan memiliki berbagai prestasi di arena pacuan kuda. Sementara Jane sendiri takut dan membenci kuda karena sedari kecil Jane dipaksa naik kuda oleh kedua orang tuanya dan sepupunya, Nigel. Justru Jane sangat menggemari dunia ballet dan ingin menjadi ballerina.
Mariella Foster adalah putri tunggal dari seorang ballerina terkenal, Irma Foster, dan kritikus yang disegani, Oscar Deveraux. Mariella muak dengan segala latihan balletnya. Diam-diam dia menyimpan minat pada olahraga berkuda dan begitu menikmati saat-saat dia berkuda di London. Mariella menginginkan berkuda di padang rumput yang luas.
Hidup mereka berubah 180 derajat ketika Mariella menyuruh Jane menggantikannya audisi di Wells dengan mengaku sebagai Jane Foster. Sementara Mariella sendiri pergi ke tempat Jane di Northumberland dimana dia bisa berkuda sesuai impiannya.
October 12, 2014
Just as Jane isn't quite such a good dancer as Veronica, so the story of her rise to the top isn't quite such a good one. Mariella, however, is (at this stage, at least) one of Lorna Hill's better characters; and Nigel, while still fairly awful, isn't as bad as a boy as he is after he's grown up.
The real trouble is, now is when you start to get sucked in. When there's a tennis party or a concert, it's populated by characters you've bumped into before, or even used to know quite well - in that respect, Lorna Hill is very EBD-ish. I'm enjoying these re-reads more than I expected to and I think I may struggle to consign them to the charity shop pile!
The real trouble is, now is when you start to get sucked in. When there's a tennis party or a concert, it's populated by characters you've bumped into before, or even used to know quite well - in that respect, Lorna Hill is very EBD-ish. I'm enjoying these re-reads more than I expected to and I think I may struggle to consign them to the charity shop pile!
October 8, 2016
This was the perfect read for me as I am ill and needed something comforting.
Mariella Foster loves horses and the countryside and would do anything to swap with her cousin Jane who has to deal with those pursuits and would rather dance. So she hatches a plan where Jane does her audition at Sadlers Wells but of course sooner or later it is discovered.
One of the better books of the series. Mariella is slightly over confident but charming where as Jane is shy but lights up when she dances. I loved the relationship between them as well as Nigel Jane's snobby cousin and it was nice to hear about Veronica Weston at the end.
Mariella Foster loves horses and the countryside and would do anything to swap with her cousin Jane who has to deal with those pursuits and would rather dance. So she hatches a plan where Jane does her audition at Sadlers Wells but of course sooner or later it is discovered.
One of the better books of the series. Mariella is slightly over confident but charming where as Jane is shy but lights up when she dances. I loved the relationship between them as well as Nigel Jane's snobby cousin and it was nice to hear about Veronica Weston at the end.
March 13, 2015
Hanya masalah selera, tapi mulai dari seri ini, saya merasa magic touch-nya perlahan lenyap. Tapi saya sangat suka buku 1-3 dari seri ini.
September 17, 2025
In this my reread of one of my all time favourites. Having read these books for over 50 years, they still remain a favourite. Why? When I was younger my sister Catoline did ballet lessons so Mum bought the books for her, but she never reread them as I did. I like ballet but can't do it, I have no hand eye coordination and was always falling over as a child. I just loved reading and in my head people I knew were the characters in the book. Caroline in the book, was my sister. These days I still get pictures in my head when I read, not always people I know, mainly not. Only these. I thought everyone imagined the book in their own mind and was surprised that not everyone does this. But in my opinion, I think book lovers who like me reread books after many years probably do share that vivid imagination. Imagine reading only the pages and nothing forming.
Anyway in this book we travel away from Veronica and the Scott's as they become a sort of cameo roles in the books, sometimes seen, but mainly talked about. It's as if they have passed the baton on. Jane Foster who we came across in No Castanets is visited by her cousin Mariella and they both realise the other is doing what they want to do. A couple of years pass and then Jane visits London while Mariella's mother is away and Mariella suggests Jane takes her part for the audition at Sadlers Wells. Jane gets in and enjoys herself at the school but it is found out.
These stories unlike today's have an innocence about them, no violence, no swearing, no sex obviously as it's a children's book but they do so much without the parents intervention, parents are on the periphery. These days children are wrapped in so much cotton wool because of the way the world is.
Highly recommended for confident readers. Lots of French words in them as well.
Anyway in this book we travel away from Veronica and the Scott's as they become a sort of cameo roles in the books, sometimes seen, but mainly talked about. It's as if they have passed the baton on. Jane Foster who we came across in No Castanets is visited by her cousin Mariella and they both realise the other is doing what they want to do. A couple of years pass and then Jane visits London while Mariella's mother is away and Mariella suggests Jane takes her part for the audition at Sadlers Wells. Jane gets in and enjoys herself at the school but it is found out.
These stories unlike today's have an innocence about them, no violence, no swearing, no sex obviously as it's a children's book but they do so much without the parents intervention, parents are on the periphery. These days children are wrapped in so much cotton wool because of the way the world is.
Highly recommended for confident readers. Lots of French words in them as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2025
I don’t think this is the strongest entry in the series but it is still a very enjoyable read. I found the Northumberland settings the most evocative and Mariella is a far more interesting character than her cousin Jane. Jane’s ballet journey seems a bit perfunctory after the excitements of previous books. Still a good read.
June 6, 2022
Covid Comfort Read #4
March 29, 2023
This was one of my favourite books as a girl. I harboured a secret desire to be a ballet dancer. I’ve reread the book many times as an adult and still enjoy it just as much.
December 14, 2024
When I was young, I thought they were so brave.
October 7, 2021
This is another Lorna-Hill-at-her-best work. I was sorry that she didn't continue Veronica's narrative any further- I wanted to read about her travelling the globe as a freshly minted prima ballerina and picking up her romance with Sebastian again. But I think Hill decided Veronica's story had finished, since she had achieved her dreams, and Hill was probably right! It was a brave decision by Hill to start over again with new characters, but on this occasion it works really well (unlike in the later books!).
Mariella and even the rather pathetic Jane are very life-like, interesting, and generally likeable characters. And the variations on the themes of before are not too similar to be repetitive: Nigel is another "sort-of-cousin" with some similarities to Sebastian but also plenty of critical differences; the children spend some of their time in Northumberland and some in London, but their adventures are different to Veronica's; even Jane learning ballet and aspiring to be admitted to Sadlers' Wells doesn't seem repetitive. I think Mariella is the character who really makes this book sparkle - her rebellion against her famous ballerina mother pushing her into ballet is a new theme in the series and narrated extremely well. Mariella is spoilt and wilful, but charming and good hearted, and I can entirely empathise with preferring the countryside to London! (I wish she didn't like fox hunting, but there we are, this is a countryside book of the 1950s, so it's to be expected, I suppose.)
**Spoiler Alert**
I find it really strange that in this book Veronica and Sebastian are about 24 and only just about to get married, yet in No Castanets at the Wells (written after this book) they get engaged on a whirlwind upon meeting each other again when Veronica is only 18. If they were in such a rush at 18/19, then why the 6 year wait to go ahead and get married? Did Sebastian want to stake his claim, but then Veronica said they couldn't get married yet because she needed to travel the world for her career and couldn't risk having children until she had reached the pinnacle of success?? It seems very strange to me. I think a more believable chronology would have been that they had met again at 18/19 and started getting to know each other again as adults and with romantic feelings for each other, but that they had not got engaged for a year or two, and then it would have made sense them getting married 6 years after they re-met. Unfortunately, Hill added in their immediate engagement in the next book she wrote - No Castanets at the Wells - so the chronology doesn't entirely make sense to me. But there we are. A small detail, anyway.
Mariella and even the rather pathetic Jane are very life-like, interesting, and generally likeable characters. And the variations on the themes of before are not too similar to be repetitive: Nigel is another "sort-of-cousin" with some similarities to Sebastian but also plenty of critical differences; the children spend some of their time in Northumberland and some in London, but their adventures are different to Veronica's; even Jane learning ballet and aspiring to be admitted to Sadlers' Wells doesn't seem repetitive. I think Mariella is the character who really makes this book sparkle - her rebellion against her famous ballerina mother pushing her into ballet is a new theme in the series and narrated extremely well. Mariella is spoilt and wilful, but charming and good hearted, and I can entirely empathise with preferring the countryside to London! (I wish she didn't like fox hunting, but there we are, this is a countryside book of the 1950s, so it's to be expected, I suppose.)
**Spoiler Alert**
I find it really strange that in this book Veronica and Sebastian are about 24 and only just about to get married, yet in No Castanets at the Wells (written after this book) they get engaged on a whirlwind upon meeting each other again when Veronica is only 18. If they were in such a rush at 18/19, then why the 6 year wait to go ahead and get married? Did Sebastian want to stake his claim, but then Veronica said they couldn't get married yet because she needed to travel the world for her career and couldn't risk having children until she had reached the pinnacle of success?? It seems very strange to me. I think a more believable chronology would have been that they had met again at 18/19 and started getting to know each other again as adults and with romantic feelings for each other, but that they had not got engaged for a year or two, and then it would have made sense them getting married 6 years after they re-met. Unfortunately, Hill added in their immediate engagement in the next book she wrote - No Castanets at the Wells - so the chronology doesn't entirely make sense to me. But there we are. A small detail, anyway.
April 28, 2021
Lovely to read this again after many years in hardback with dustjacket too. One if my very favourite series and Lorna us at her very best in these early books. Mariella and Jane are good, real characters and I was gripped. The ballet and countries bits felt authentic.
October 8, 2012
Is it wrong that my favorite character so far is Mariella?
January 18, 2022
I loved that Veronika fainted in the end.
-08.07.2021
God, I am in love with this book series. In love.
-18.01.2022
-08.07.2021
God, I am in love with this book series. In love.
-18.01.2022
May 2, 2017
Note: I read the American edition, with the title Masquerade at the Ballet.
Jane Foster's life changes completely after a visit from her cousin Mariella and aunt Irma. Mariella is studying ballet, in order to follow in her mother's footsteps. The only problem — Mariella detests dancing! She'd rather spend her time as Jane does, riding her pony and competing at meets; something Jane hates. After seeing her first ballet, Jane begins lessons, and progresses rapidly. So when she visits Mariella several years later, Mariella comes up with a plan . . . .
A very enjoyable story, highly recommended.
Jane Foster's life changes completely after a visit from her cousin Mariella and aunt Irma. Mariella is studying ballet, in order to follow in her mother's footsteps. The only problem — Mariella detests dancing! She'd rather spend her time as Jane does, riding her pony and competing at meets; something Jane hates. After seeing her first ballet, Jane begins lessons, and progresses rapidly. So when she visits Mariella several years later, Mariella comes up with a plan . . . .
A very enjoyable story, highly recommended.
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