Satisfying second encounter with the Grand Ballroom and the staff at the Buckingham Hotel in Mayfair.
After my unexpected enjoyment of Anton Du Beke’s debut novel, set behind the doors of the majestic Buckingham Hotel in Mayfair, home of the Grand Ballroom, I gladly returned for a second encounter. Given that historical romance is far from my usual genre and aside from the vivid characterisation, much of my enjoyment of the first was due to the 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 Hotel. Again Du Beke maintains his authentic grasp of the period era adding real substance to the romantic liaisons and dramas of another year in the hotel.
Opening in April, 1937 with former male principal dancer, Raymond de Guise, temporarily absent from the ballroom, all is not well with hotel director, Maynard Charles. Not only is the hotel without its principal benefactor since King Edward’s abdication but the Buckingham is seeking new investment with the looming threat of war. Alongside this, the formally debauched stepdaughter of majority investor, Lord Edgerton, a permanent guest in the finest suite at the hotel, has been clean and worrying absent from the ballroom in recent months and concern is starting to mount. But with Miss Edgerton having other more benevolent ideas about how to spend her lavish allowance, Maynard Charles can only hope it does nothing to detract attention from his mission to impress American businessman and potential investor, John Hastings Junior. With a spate of thefts from the rooms of guests it signals the arrival of a hotel detective and female principal dancer, Hélène Marchmont, finds herself increasingly torn between dancing and her secret daughter, only to be romanced by a wealthy Irish guest who has set his sights on her.
Meanwhile stubborn and principled Lancashire born and bred chambermaid, Nancy Nettleton, has found a home at the Buckingham, and a year on is welcoming her seventeen-year-old brother, Frank, to life as a hotel page. But with shy Frank overawed by what he finds and the demands of his role he is swiftly taken under the wing of savvy Lambeth lad and new concierge, Billy Brogan. Awaiting the return of beau, Raymond, from his sojourn in Hollywood, Nancy fears the lure of the silver screen could tempt him across the Atlantic permanently but befriended by Miss Edgerton she is soon caught up in a project all of her very own. Returning to the Buckingham fired up with the jitterbugging and jiving of the New York clubs, Raymond is determined to introduce London to a new waves of dances, but he knows that change is imminent and war around the corner.. Can the Buckingham and it’s staff weather the storm ahead?
Although I felt the novel got off to a slightly slow start, and I feared that this second book would be a reprisal of the first when chambermaid Nancy Nettleton, took her first steps into the hotel with the lead character replaced with her easily embarrassed brother and page, Frank, this did not prove to be the case. At about a quarter of the way through the novel hit its stride, with several more of the returning characters stories picking up where they left off at the end of the first book and the return of principal male dancer, Raymond de Guise (aka Ray Cohen) bringing a possible saviour in the form of John Hastings Junior.
Whilst personally I did not warm to Frank whom I felt brought nothing new to the cast, his story did not dominate the novel which is much more a story of how a magnificent hotel fares through the interwar years and the impact on its fortunes, in addition to the staff and guests who pass through its doors. After a successful debut the temptation might have been to maintain the status quo but instead Du Beke takes the risk of significant developments taking place in the lives of the primary cast and as a result the novel proves to be as engrossing as the first.
Whilst some of the unfolding characters stories have an admittedly prosaic feel and simply make for an undemanding feel-good read, the love affair between Raymond and Nancy is no such forgone conclusion with the question of whether Raymond will return to Hollywood going right down to the wire. The narrative itself moves between each of the primary characters keeping the pace brisk and an eye on the bigger picture of a potential war and the pressing search to secure new investment. Du Beke’s understanding of the prevailing economic and political backdrop brings much to the story and the growing threats of war and its devastating implications imbue the story with a spirit of ceasing the moment in a perilous world.
I doubt the novel would work as well as it does if read as a stand-alone, with much of the enjoyment coming from seeing how far the characters who came to life in the first novel fare in the second. And with another instalment in the pipeline I can only recommend readers follow this one from the start!
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Opening in April, 1937 with former male principal dancer, Raymond de Guise, temporarily absent from the ballroom, all is not well with hotel director, Maynard Charles. Not only is the hotel without its principal benefactor since King Edward’s abdication but the Buckingham is seeking new investment with the looming threat of war. Alongside this, the formally debauched stepdaughter of majority investor, Lord Edgerton, a permanent guest in the finest suite at the hotel, has been clean and worrying absent from the ballroom in recent months and concern is starting to mount. But with Miss Edgerton having other more benevolent ideas about how to spend her lavish allowance, Maynard Charles can only hope it does nothing to detract attention from his mission to impress American businessman and potential investor, John Hastings Junior. With a spate of thefts from the rooms of guests it signals the arrival of a hotel detective and female principal dancer, Hélène Marchmont, finds herself increasingly torn between dancing and her secret daughter, only to be romanced by a wealthy Irish guest who has set his sights on her.
Meanwhile stubborn and principled Lancashire born and bred chambermaid, Nancy Nettleton, has found a home at the Buckingham, and a year on is welcoming her seventeen-year-old brother, Frank, to life as a hotel page. But with shy Frank overawed by what he finds and the demands of his role he is swiftly taken under the wing of savvy Lambeth lad and new concierge, Billy Brogan. Awaiting the return of beau, Raymond, from his sojourn in Hollywood, Nancy fears the lure of the silver screen could tempt him across the Atlantic permanently but befriended by Miss Edgerton she is soon caught up in a project all of her very own. Returning to the Buckingham fired up with the jitterbugging and jiving of the New York clubs, Raymond is determined to introduce London to a new waves of dances, but he knows that change is imminent and war around the corner.. Can the Buckingham and it’s staff weather the storm ahead?
Although I felt the novel got off to a slightly slow start, and I feared that this second book would be a reprisal of the first when chambermaid Nancy Nettleton, took her first steps into the hotel with the lead character replaced with her easily embarrassed brother and page, Frank, this did not prove to be the case. At about a quarter of the way through the novel hit its stride, with several more of the returning characters stories picking up where they left off at the end of the first book and the return of principal male dancer, Raymond de Guise (aka Ray Cohen) bringing a possible saviour in the form of John Hastings Junior.
Whilst personally I did not warm to Frank whom I felt brought nothing new to the cast, his story did not dominate the novel which is much more a story of how a magnificent hotel fares through the interwar years and the impact on its fortunes, in addition to the staff and guests who pass through its doors. After a successful debut the temptation might have been to maintain the status quo but instead Du Beke takes the risk of significant developments taking place in the lives of the primary cast and as a result the novel proves to be as engrossing as the first.
Whilst some of the unfolding characters stories have an admittedly prosaic feel and simply make for an undemanding feel-good read, the love affair between Raymond and Nancy is no such forgone conclusion with the question of whether Raymond will return to Hollywood going right down to the wire. The narrative itself moves between each of the primary characters keeping the pace brisk and an eye on the bigger picture of a potential war and the pressing search to secure new investment. Du Beke’s understanding of the prevailing economic and political backdrop brings much to the story and the growing threats of war and its devastating implications imbue the story with a spirit of ceasing the moment in a perilous world.
I doubt the novel would work as well as it does if read as a stand-alone, with much of the enjoyment coming from seeing how far the characters who came to life in the first novel fare in the second. And with another instalment in the pipeline I can only recommend readers follow this one from the start!
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.