The Ballet Family

The Ballet Family #1

by Mabel Esther Allan, A.R. Whitear (Illustrator)

hardcover with dust jacket

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult, School Stories, London, 20th Century

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

A prolific British children's author, who also wrote under the pen-names Jean Estoril, Priscilla Hagon, Anne Pilgrim, and Kathleen M. Pearcey, Mabel Esther Allan is particularly known for her school and ballet stories.

Born in 1915 at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, Allan knew from an early age that she wanted to be an author, and published her first short stories in the 1930s. Her writing career was interrupted by World War II, during which time she served in the Women's Land Army and taught school in Liverpool, but the 1948 publication of The Glen Castle Mystery saw it begin to take off in earnest. Influenced by Scottish educator A.S. Neill, Allan held progressive views about education, views that often found their way into her books, particularly her school stories. She was interested in folk dance and ballet - another common subject in her work - and was a frequent traveler. She died in 1998.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow starter for me but I ended up really enjoying it! I love how the main characters, Anne and Joan, grow and mature believably and slowly become friends. I put the sequel on hold via ILL because I’d like to follow this family more. Delphine was a piece of work. 😅

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

After her mother's sudden and unexpected death, Joan Bradshaw comes to live with her maternal uncle, aunt and cousins in London in this quietly moving tale of finding a new family, leaving behind her childhood home in Lancashire. Quiet and proud, and still reeling from the terrible grief of her recent loss, Joan feels that she will never belong in the Garland household, for the Garlands are a "ballet family." Father Edwin is the orchestra conductor for the world-famous Thorburg Company, where mother Mona is a famous prima ballerina and eldest sister Pelagia is a dancer in the corps de ballet. Younger siblings Edward, Anne and Delphine, in the meantime, are all studying ballet at the Thorburg School. Their entire world revolves around ballet, something Joan finds absolutely foreign at first. Slowly though, through trial and error, Joan and the Garlands become better acquainted, and when Joan's talent for both piano composition and drawing are revealed, it transpires that she may have more in common with "the ballet family" than anyone had imagined...

I always enjoy Mabel Esther Allan's work, finishing each new book wondering why I don't read more of her, given how prolific she was! The Ballet Family was originally published in 1963, under Allan's own name, but the edition I own was published in 1989 under the pseudonym 'Jean Estoril,' which Allan often used for her ballet fiction, most notably, the Drina Ballerina series. Perhaps it was reissued this way in order to draw in fans of the Drina books? However that may be, I enjoyed the tale here immensely, and felt that Allan, as always, had a sensitive appreciation for characters who feel out of step with those around them. In her school stories this is usually the "new girl" who must find her feet as a pupil, but here it is the new girl in the family, and the adjustments are necessary on all sides. I really appreciated the way in which Allan dealt with regional prejudices within British society at the time, and the way in which she gently challenged the Garlands' assumptions about what people in Northern England would be like, their feelings of unconscious superiority, and surprise that not everyone would value the more sophisticated London over less 'urbane' areas of the country. It would have been all too easy to make the Garlands horrible snobs, but they're nothing of the kind - not even spoiled Delphine! Rather, they're thoroughly decent people, who really make an effort. This makes the eventual understanding that develops between them and their northern cousin all the more satisfactory. I sped through this one very quickly, enjoying the characters, the story and the setting (geography is VERY important in Allan's work!), and had no sooner finished it than I was reaching for the sequel, The Ballet Family Again . What stronger recommendation could there be?

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Drina Series so decided to buy this book from Foyles bookshop.

Joan's mother has died and she has to deal with the massive change of moving to London and living with her eccentric Aunt, Uncle and cousins who are all obsessed with Ballet.

I really enjoyed this as it shows how close minded people were about the north etc and it does a good job of portraying how it is never a good idea to judge someone by your first impression of them! It also had some brilliantly eccentric characters and was very informative about what it is like being a dancer.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit cliche, but enjoyable nonetheless. Joan is orphaned and sent to live with her ballet-mad relations in London, and she feels totally left out of everything since she doesn't know squat about ballet, but then of course her own 'gift' is unearthed and naturally it fits in perfectly with the ballet world.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child. Borrowed it repeatedly from the library.
Funny though how some books date so dreadfully and others remain classics. This seems dated. Dreadful north south snobbery and airs and graces.Goodness the girl's mother has died suddenly.Her Uncle says she mustn't attend the funeral. Nobody mentions her mother and the rest all need a slap.

[Jen Pritchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book, which is rather funny since I'm not a dancer and have never had an interest to do ballet. But even to me, the non-dancer, the ballet world painted in this book is really intriguing. The characters are also fun and quirky and leap off the pages in the most appealing manner. I'm looking forward to reading its sequel.

[Averin]

I read this at age eleven or twelve and never quite forgot it. Took me years to find the title (thanks to the https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185 group). Have no idea if it would impress me now, probably not.

[Verity W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Mabel Esther Allan does write a good ballet story. I love the Drina books and some how missed out on these when I was little. But they're fun and readable and make you wish you'd gone to ballet school yourself - despite the constant practice, darning, foot pain and injuries!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a real favourite of mine when I was young, along with all the Drina books. I'm a thwarted ballet dancer you know!
As an adult, these books have dated somewhat and goodness me isn't everyone terribly snobby!! However that does not diminish the pleasure they have given me over the years.

[Cate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Childhood nostalgia courtesy of Amazon

[Anjuli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood favourite rediscovered :)

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in a nostalgic, escapist kind of way. The style is very similar to the Drina books and reinforces my view that Mabel Esther Allan/Jean Estoril can do feel good stories very well, but is not a talented writer in the league of Noel Streatfeild or Lorna Hill who also wrote about the ballet world in the early to mid twentieth century.

Joan was a likeable heroine, but even allowing for the fact that this book was written over fifty years ago, the lack of sympathy she received from the Garland family after just losing her mother was pretty shocking.

In fact, none of the Garland family are particularly likeable. Palagia is completely self absorbed, Anne is single minded and unable to see anything beyond her passion for ballet and Delphine is a rude and spoiled brat. Uncle Edwin and Aunt Mona are kind in a passive way, but show no inclination to put themselves to any inconvenience for the sake of their grieving and homesick young niece. Not a very flattering depiction of a musical/theatrical family.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the Garlands, the Ballet family of the title, rather insufferable and unsympathetic. The way they treated their niece/cousin was rather horrible in my opinion. Always just justifying it with the excuse that they are just so busy with their lives in the ballet. The girl's mother has just died suddenly and she is forced to move from her home to live with people that are strangers and none of them seem to care about what she must be feeling. They just care about the fact that she isn't falling over herself with praise for them, London, and ballet in general. And then they only really start to care about her and really bring her into the fold of their family when it turns out she does have talents that can be applied to their ballet centric world. But also, if they had taken five minutes to get to know her months earlier they could have known that already. As I write this bit of a screed about this book I feel like I liked it even less then I originally thought!

[Rhona Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the Drina books I feel that this is for a step up in age. Joan Bradshaw's mother dies after a long illness and the only relations are the Garlands. Her Uncle Edwin is a conductor, his wife is a ballerina with the Thorburg company and they have four children Pelugia, Edward, Anne and Delphine all are ballet dancers or ballet students except Pelugia who is in the corps de ballet. What does Joan make of this strange family? Will she be able to blend in? Then something happens that is life changing and it could be enough for her to be a career.

[Lady_bercilak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed the Drina books, I saw this other ballet book by Mabel Esther Allan (a.k.a. Jean Estoril) and decided to give it a try. I enjoyed the story of people with different priorities in life being thrown together, and eventually trying to see the other point of view. I liked the bereaved heroine, and thought the author showed the lack of understanding of her well-meaning but selfish relatives very well. I will look out for other books in this series.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

So simple, and yet just enough of a twist on a classic ballet story - here, a family full of talented people who need to make space for each other - to be compelling. It’s got a little bit of that ballet “magic” (though it is a bit undercut in how it takes that sparkle for granted) and it’s fun that, Streatfeild-like, everyone is talented to an extent.

This might work better with more grief, less money, and more failure, but wouldn’t they all?

[Kate H · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite books by Jean Estoril are her 'Drina" books but her other books are quite good too. I like her sweet and somewhat dated style, they are basically the perfect English school girl stories. I never did ballet but I have always been obsessed with it and I enjoy the window into that life that reading a Jean Estoril book gives me.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was younger and rereading it again it was still just as good. However it is odd the way the fact that Joan’s mother has died is ignored. Even on the blurb it says Joan is lonely and homesick but not sad. Throughout the book she’s allowed to miss the North but not her mother.

[Daisy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, easy read but Anne is a very annoying character even though I feel that the author really wants us to like her the most.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable children's story

[Avril · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant read. Not as good as the 'Drina' series by the same author, but a warm children's book.