Listen to the Nightingale

If you loved Noel Streatfeild's "Ballet Shoes," you'll be just as passionate about Rumer Godden's "Listen to the Nightingale." Certainly they are very different books, by very different authors. But what I find similar is each author's ability to create vivid, complex characters. Like Streatfeild, Godden isn't afraid to give weaknesses to adults and strengths to children. Charlotte is a very talented dancer - but she tells lies, loses a role to a false friend, has her feelings bruised, and through it all keeps the reader's sympathy and interest. The ballet background is beautifully detailed, but it's the personalities that are so memorable.

"Listen to the Nightingale" is an enchanting work. It revives, in part, the setting of Godden's "A Candle for St. Jude," for Charlotte Tew, who was Lottie in "A Candle for St. Jude," afrer the death of the famed dancer Anna Holbein and the closing of her school,studies at the Royal Ballet School. Lottie's deepening engagement with the dance. her journey from the London streets to the stage, her fascination with Salvador, and the profound impact her time at the school has on her and her aunt, will delight even those who do not yet know Miss Godden's work. Treat yourself!

This story is happy in deep ways--not superficial. The author understands the world of ballet, and how a girl might feel when poverty and responsibility could keep her from being the fine artist she could be. The story is intriguing and the writing is masterful. IF THIS BOOK WERE REISSUED IN HARDCOVER I WOULD BUY LOADS OF THEM AND GIVE THEM TO EVERYONE I LIKE.

This book is a true delight. I loved every moment of it... I've read it about six times, and will probably reading it over and over again for as long as I live. Rumer Godden has a wonderful story, and wonderful chracters. Although I'm not interested in ballet at all, I still loved this book. It's so much more.