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The Ballroom

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The Ballroom

By: Anna Hope
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
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About this listen

By the acclaimed author of WAKE:

Where love is your only escape ....

1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors,
where men and women are kept apart
by high walls and barred windows,
there is a ballroom vast and beautiful.
For one bright evening every week
they come together
and dance.
When John and Ella meet
It is a dance that will change
two lives forever.

Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM is a tale of unlikely love and dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which.

 Biographical Fiction Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Gothic Historical Horror Romance Heartfelt Tear-jerking

Critic reviews

Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read
A British version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Moving. Fascinating
An unsentimental and affecting story
Compelling, elegant and insightful.
In this deeply moving book, Hope reminds us that behind everyone’s facade lies something waiting to be rent free
An original, brilliant, evocative novel
A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times
Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.
Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.
Beautiful
All stars
Most relevant

If you could sum up The Ballroom in three words, what would they be?

Compelling, insightful, memorable

What did you like best about this story?

It is very atmospheric with strong characterisation. As I understand it, the maxim for writing a good story is.... 'show, rather than tell'. This did just that. Many years ago I had a work meeting at the place on which this is loosely based and I could visualise it so clearly. The ending is also robust and fitting. The day after I finished listening to this, I bought the book to give to a friend as a gift... it's that good.

Have you listened to any of Daniel Weyman’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No, this was the first, but I was very impressed. Great job, Daniel. Thank you.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I think something similar has been written elsewhere about it being the British version of One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

Any additional comments?

Do read...

Now this is really good!

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I loved this book & my favourite narrator... I didn’t want it to end !

Brilliant story & narrator

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A gripping storyline. Unexpected historical facts. Worrying how close some people can come to damaging the human race. Highly recommend you read it.

A gripping storyline. Unexpected historical facts.

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This is my first read by this author and I chose it as on Richard and Judy bookclub list. This was set during the heatwave of 1911 on the vast Yorkshire moor in a mental health asylum. Individuals were admitted with no recourse to leave and for minor indiscretions not related to their mental health.
The main characters are John a gentle man from Ireland with a past including death and abandonment. Ella in her desperation to see the sky from her factory workplace broke a window. Her punishment was admission to the asylum. Chem, an intellectual well read girl was admitted by her family as a private patient. Charles Fuller was the doctor working there. He played music in the ballroom for the patients.
This is a beautifully hauntingly story wonderfully scripted set against the backdrop of the rugged Yorkshire moors juxtaposed with the bleakness of the asylum.
The ballroom of the asylum was a lovely space where weekly dances were held with Dr Fuller providing the music. Dr Fuller insisted that John attended John met Ella and love happened between them. Apart from in the ballroom women and men never met as women stayed inside and men outside working.
To maintain contact John writes to Ella. Chem reads the letters and replies back as Ella is illiterate.
In the asylum we see the medical staff are totally powerful and make life and death choices for the inmates without consulting them.
Part of these decisions included horrendous ethical choices leaving life long effects to the receiver. It is even worse to know that this asylum existed and that the eugenic campaign of the time was all too real.
This book is about life and survival but at a huge cost. I was so moved by the beautiful ending which was poetic and so gripping.
The waste to these peoples lives as well as the joy their time together brought is ever present.
The narrative was lovely and aided the story and my listening to it.
I read this in its entirety over a long plane journey and it was such a joy to get absorbed in. I would highly recommend it.

Moving and wonderful

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I really enjoyed this, even though it was heartbreaking and distressing at times. beautiful Ending.

captivating story that had me gripped to the end

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