Historical drama with a terrific 1930s atmosphere and a third instalment of life at the Buckingham Hotel.
Having thoroughly enjoyed Anton du Beke’s two previous novels, set behind the doors of the Buckingham Hotel in Mayfair and home to the Grand Ballroom, I gladly returned for a third and festive encounter. The first two novels were a mix of historical drama and romance and much of my enjoyment was due to the atmospheric portrayal of the 1930s and du Beke’s willingness to weave the precarious political situation and the looming threat of war around the ongoing lives of the dancers and staff at the Buckingham. This third encounter sees du Beke maintain his authentic grasp of the period era and follows goings-on at the hotel from April 1938 to the eve of WWII, taking in the marriage of independent Lancastrian chambermaid, Nancy Nettleton, and debonair demonstration dancer, Raymond de Guise (aka Ray Cohen from Whitechapel).
Opening in April 1938 with invitations to Nancy and Raymond’s wedding in December with dinner and dancing at the Grand Ballroom already circulated, hotel director and reluctant spy, Maynard Charles, is overseeing the long-awaited restoration of the Buckingham’s showpiece ballroom following a fire. Problems await Maynard however and his first comes in the shape of the dignified and silver-haired Austrian, Herr Tobias Bauer, who due to Nazi Germany’s intention to annex Austria finds himself exiled and one of the many refugees pouring into England to very mixed reactions. Having seen action himself in the Great War and still bearing the emotional scars a second war feels imminent to Maynard, with the odious Lord Edgerton, a key member of the hotel board, a notable member of the British Union of Fascists. Even kindly housekeeper and mother to all the girls in her charge, Mrs Emmeline Moffatt, has troubles of her own with the arrival of a letter that upends her world and reawakens a decades old hurt and inadvertently arouses the concern of bandleader Archie Adams.
Meanwhile Lord Edgerton’s stepdaughter, reformed addict Vivienne, is unbeknownst to him still continuing her good works and putting her allowance towards the Daughters of Salvation charitable enterprise, ably assisted by Raymond’s wide boy younger brother, Artie. The arrival of elegant principal dancer, Hélène Marchmont’s estranged family bringing news of their own to the hotel exposes her most precious secret, thereby placing her future in the Grand Ballroom on the line. All eyes below stairs are however on Nancy as she frets on what the future holds once she is a married woman and the possibility that she might have to give up the job she loves. But without a dress to get wed in and her younger brother, hotel page Frank, having a job and a half teaching Lambeth born concierge Billy Brogan how to dance there is plenty of drama. With a touring dance company in the ballroom and Billy once again acting as the eyes and ears of the hotel for Mr Charles and his spymasters the novel moves between storylines and individual characters predicaments with aplomb, maintaining a brisk pace and keeping the entire story intriguing.
The novel itself is just over 450 pages and my only gripe was that I felt it got off to a slow start with a hefty chunk of back story covered in the initial stages, meaning it is not necessary to have read the first two novels in order to follow the story. Nevertheless the story soon got into its stride and its length is also partly explained by an abundance of developments in the lives of a number of the characters and on the world stage which more than made amends for the slow start. Full of secrets, divided loyalties and the enduring magic of the ballroom, A Christmas to Remember is an immensely entertaining third novel in the series and once again portrays the ugly face of fascism against the glamorous hotel backdrop with a vivid cast and a marriage to celebrate! Recommended light reading with strong characterisation regardless of whether a fan of dancing or Anton du Beke.
Opening in April 1938 with invitations to Nancy and Raymond’s wedding in December with dinner and dancing at the Grand Ballroom already circulated, hotel director and reluctant spy, Maynard Charles, is overseeing the long-awaited restoration of the Buckingham’s showpiece ballroom following a fire. Problems await Maynard however and his first comes in the shape of the dignified and silver-haired Austrian, Herr Tobias Bauer, who due to Nazi Germany’s intention to annex Austria finds himself exiled and one of the many refugees pouring into England to very mixed reactions. Having seen action himself in the Great War and still bearing the emotional scars a second war feels imminent to Maynard, with the odious Lord Edgerton, a key member of the hotel board, a notable member of the British Union of Fascists. Even kindly housekeeper and mother to all the girls in her charge, Mrs Emmeline Moffatt, has troubles of her own with the arrival of a letter that upends her world and reawakens a decades old hurt and inadvertently arouses the concern of bandleader Archie Adams.
Meanwhile Lord Edgerton’s stepdaughter, reformed addict Vivienne, is unbeknownst to him still continuing her good works and putting her allowance towards the Daughters of Salvation charitable enterprise, ably assisted by Raymond’s wide boy younger brother, Artie. The arrival of elegant principal dancer, Hélène Marchmont’s estranged family bringing news of their own to the hotel exposes her most precious secret, thereby placing her future in the Grand Ballroom on the line. All eyes below stairs are however on Nancy as she frets on what the future holds once she is a married woman and the possibility that she might have to give up the job she loves. But without a dress to get wed in and her younger brother, hotel page Frank, having a job and a half teaching Lambeth born concierge Billy Brogan how to dance there is plenty of drama. With a touring dance company in the ballroom and Billy once again acting as the eyes and ears of the hotel for Mr Charles and his spymasters the novel moves between storylines and individual characters predicaments with aplomb, maintaining a brisk pace and keeping the entire story intriguing.
The novel itself is just over 450 pages and my only gripe was that I felt it got off to a slow start with a hefty chunk of back story covered in the initial stages, meaning it is not necessary to have read the first two novels in order to follow the story. Nevertheless the story soon got into its stride and its length is also partly explained by an abundance of developments in the lives of a number of the characters and on the world stage which more than made amends for the slow start. Full of secrets, divided loyalties and the enduring magic of the ballroom, A Christmas to Remember is an immensely entertaining third novel in the series and once again portrays the ugly face of fascism against the glamorous hotel backdrop with a vivid cast and a marriage to celebrate! Recommended light reading with strong characterisation regardless of whether a fan of dancing or Anton du Beke.