A Christmas To Remember- Anton Du Beke-Historical fiction

A truly magical read that made me smile and almost shed a tear (in a good way).

The setting is 1938 at the very smart Buckingham hotel in Berkeley square London.

There are over 1200 staff at the hotel and hence much goes on behind the scenes

led by the director Maynard Charles. The Ballroom has just been refurbished

following a fire last year - Raymond  De Guise is the lead professional dancer and

is very much in love with  chambermaid Nancy. Ray is really Ray Cohen from the

East end, a non practising jewish family and there are rumours of war. A guest

now finds himself unable to return home as it has been taken over and so moves

into a less expensive suite and lifestyle. Helene the female lead dancer has her

own secrets- a child with a black husband now dead and her family disowned

her as it “would bring shame on their good name”. There are a multitude of

things happening- from a potentially suspicious death to espionage, love,

drama and the thrills and spills of life in a glamorous hotel. 

Wow! This is my first book by Anton. There is such an atmosphere of what it

must have been like in that period, from the tension of pre-war, to racism,

misogyny and general life being so very different from today. 

This put me in a spin, waltzed me through the era, a little paso of romance

and I quick-stepped through the whole book as I enjoyed it so much!

A totally charming entrancing book beautifully written and evocative of

the era. I look forward to the next one :) 

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