The Ballroom

Our book of the month for September is The Ballroom, a novel by critically acclaimed author Anna Hope. 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.

"There are three ways out of here. You can die. That's easy. People seem to die all the time. You can escape. Almost impossible. Or you can convince them you're sane enough to leave."

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. 

"A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times" The Bookseller 

"An original, brilliant and evocative novel" Chris Cleave

Anna Hope was born in Manchester and educated at Oxford University and RADA. She is the author of the acclaimed debut and The Times' bestseller, Wake. The Ballroom is her second novel and is inspired by the true story of her great-grandfather.

The Ballroom is published by Doubleday and is available online and from all good booksellers. Please don't forget that if you do receive one of our free copies, you will need to add your questions and comments for Anna to the thread by the end of September.

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