Back-Stage

Sadler's Wells #12

by Lorna Hill

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Hill 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.

Reviews

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna grows up in the helter-skelter world of backstage. The daughter of a third-rate ballerina in a less-than-well-attended theater. When her mother takes an unexpected trip to heaven, Anna is left to be raised by the remnants of that world. An elderly dresser. A brilliant Spanish dancer headed for the circus. A ballet instructor that cares not if his students run amok as long as they can dance.

When the theater closes, Anna is sent on to the Royal Ballet School. But even though she is both gifted and advanced, how will the wild child of backstage succeed in a world so far from her own?

Backstage is the twelfth novel in Lorna Hill's series about talented young girls growing up in the world of dance. While many of the characters return hither and yon throughout the series, Backstage also works quite well by itself. I enjoyed meeting Anna, her topsy-turvy world view and her scrappy personality.

Note: I stumbled across the first couple books in this series in a used bookstore in the U.S. Delightfully there are a plethora, only a couple of which I have not been able to procure. A tip for anyone seeking titles: I found the books easier to obtain via amazon.uk rather than amazon in the U.S., though a number were available there as well.

[Rosemary Atwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been so long between visits that I’d almost forgotten how much I loved ‘Dress Rehearsal’ as a teenager. It has been illuminating watching the series shapeshift and fall into patterns both familiar and alien, with well-loved characters making welcoming cameo appearances along the way. Anna Grimaldi tells her own story, which aligns her more closely with earlier protagonists and focuses the plot more securely in territory which might otherwise be too well worn and predictable.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just read two third person Wells books one after the other, it was a shock to read this first person one. I'd definitely never read this before, and I don't think it's the best in the series, although it is sweet in places. It leaves a fair few threads dangling - with regular character Vicki and new character Anna. Unfortunately it's also the last one in the series that's (relatively) easy to get hold of. Vicki in Venice follows it - and that's £125 on amazon and although Girls Gone By did publish it, it was a decade ago and they are long out of print... I think I know where it's heading though!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole of the middle of the book adds nothing to the story. It's just a way of visiting the previous characters in the series. If like me you last read the series twenty years ago it's a fun reminder otherwise it's pointless. The other two parts of the book then make a story that is unconnected to the series and a bit rushed though enjoyable.

[Rhona Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the tale of Anna Grimaldi who grew up backstage in an old theatre as her mother was a dancer there. When her mother dies, she is taken in by her mother's dresser Sarah. Her best friend Joady who was also a dancer and danced with her, leaves with his mother for Spain to work in a circus. Anna becomes an Associate at the Wells or Royal Ballet School. Which means only attending for ballet lessons, but with help she earns money to attend properly. She is befriended by Vicki Scott after a chance meeting. She meets others from previous books, Rosanna, Sylvia, Veronica and Sebastian etc. Vicki is the vehicle of a lot of these books to the new dancer to go to Northumberland and meet everyone. Vicki is at the Slade now. I do like the Northumberland parts far more. Probably why I loved the Marjorie and Patience books. The Vicarage Children is another good series sadly only 3 books in that one.
Highly recommended.