Echoes of the Dance: A Novel

Marcia Willett

Mar 2009 · Sold by Macmillan

About this ebook

In the mellow stone house of his childhood, Roly Carradine has found refuge in the stream running past the garden where a heron makes his nest. A broken marriage and a terrible burden of guilt made Roly remove himself from his busy London life; here in Cornwall he welcomes Kate, who also seeks refuge from the grief of losing her husband, and young Daisy Quin, a dancer recovering from a back injury.

Roly's son Nat, a garden designer with his own secret, lives not far away, and is plagued by the unsympathetic visits of his mother Monica, Roly's ex-wife. Daisy, her burgeoning talent frustrated by her back problems, has been taken in by Mim, Roly's sister and a brilliant ballerina until an accident forced her into early retirement. Living in Bath, Daisy thinks she has found love with the attractive schoolmaster in the nearby flat---but her dreams prove to be false ones.

Treating Marcia Willett's ardent fans to a return visit with some of her most endearing characters from previous books, Echoes of the Dance is a gem of a story to be savored.

About the author

Born in Somerset, in the west country of England, Marcia Willett was the youngest of five girls. Her family was unconventional and musical, but Marcia chose to train as a ballet dancer. Unfortunately her body did not develop with the classical proportions demanded by the Royal Ballet, so she studied to be a ballet teacher. Her first husband was a naval officer in the submarine service, with whom she had a son, Charles, now married and a clergyman. Her second husband, Rodney, himself a writer and broadcaster, encouraged Marcia to write novels. Echoes of the Dance is her seventh book to be published in the United States by Thomas Dunne Books; the other six, A Week in Winter, A Summer in the Country, The Children's Hour, The Birdcage, First Friends, and A Friend of the Family, are available wherever books are sold.