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Becoming Lola
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Reco
 16 Nov 2010, 11:10 #105161 Reply To Post
Title : Becoming Lola

Read Feed: "In the dimmed gaslight, a sea of opera hats and bonnets filled the auditorium. Lola recognised some of the faces. ‘Damn all critics,’ she muttered. ‘Insects not fit to be crushed under my heel.’ Then she smiled. It was time for a little magic. "

Author : Harriet Steel

Genre : Historical

Review: Beautifully written gem

This is beautiful writing Harriet and I was delighted to be given this as my reading assignment; it is exactly the sort of thing I would elect to pick off a bookshop's shelf.

I really can offer very little in the way of constructive criticism: I was impressed throughout by your fluid, engaging prose and have marked you with almost all 5s (I gave one 4 for story as I wasn't wholly convinced what Eliza's obstacle was - nor her objective, but I am sure you would have rendered that clear in the forthcoming chapters).

Overall, there was a lovely sense of contextual detail and place; you brought scenes alive in all sorts of locations: the theatre was as convincing as India; both were created with a delicate, loving touch. I could see and smell them both. On one or two occasions you run the risk of too many adjectives in a row: 'hot greasepaint that caked their glowing faces' would be just as effective without 'hot' - effectively the sweat and the heat in conveyed sufficiently through 'glowing' - no need to overgild the lily!

We were enveloped beautifully in Eliza's imagination and you clearly have a real knack for making the speech patterns of your characters distinct (which is quite a skill). The story reminded me a little of Hogson Burnett's 'A Little Princess' - which as a girl captured my imagination wholly.

I wish you every success with this novel. It is one of the best things I have read on YWO.


Synopsis
A compelling exploration of the tempestuous life of Eliza Gilbert who, after an unloved childhood and a failed marriage, reinvented herself as Lola Montez, impoverished Spanish aristocrat turned dancer. Lover of a king, bigamist, passionate to the point of madness, she became the most notorious adventuress of the Victorian era.

How story begins:
Prologue

New York
1851

The dressing room was the grandest that the Broadway Theatre had to offer, lit by an eight-branched, crystal chandelier and expensively-furnished. A screen painted with nymphs and shepherds frolicking in an Elysian landscape groaned under a cascade of taffeta and silk dresses. Hats, petticoats, stockings, necklaces, fans and satin dance shoes overflowed from monogrammed trunks. Lavish arrangements of hothouse roses and lilies perfumed the air.

At the creak of footsteps in the corridor, Lola left off studying her appearance in the dressing table’s gilt-framed mirror. There was a knock at the door. ‘You’re on in five minutes,’ she heard the manager, Thomas Barry, call out.

She turned back to the mirror and picked up a squirrel brush to apply a little more colour to her cheeks before she answered.

‘I’m ready now. You may come in.’


Read Sample Chapters

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This post was last edited by Reco, 16 Nov 2010, 11:10
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