1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The Sleeping Beauties is a historical thriller with a dark fairy-tale at its heart, as well as a moving story about women’s lives during World War Two.
When two strangers meet on a train at the end of the war, Rosamund returning the last evacuees to London from her countryside manor, and Briar on her way to rehearsals for The Sleeping Beauty, their lives quickly become dangerously entangled.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was inspired by the tours and performances of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet company (now the Royal Ballet) during the war. And so the novel follows the company to Paris, Holland, London and Cambridge. The scenes in the English countryside are inspired by the beautiful moorland and forests near where my parents live in Devon.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes! I’d love to go backstage at the Royal Opera House with Briar Woods. We’d take ballet class together, followed by a night out in London.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Briar Woods is intense, determined, and romantic. Rosamund Caradon is nurturing, idealistic, and kind-hearted.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learnt that going to the ballet was more popular than ever during the Second World War. In fact, play bills from the 1940s included notices of what to do during an air raid. They said: ‘If you wish to leave for home or an official Air Raid Shelter, you are at liberty to do so. All we ask is that – if you feel you must go – you will depart quietly and without excitement.’
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit constantly. I start each writing session by editing the previous chapter, and I frequently return to earlier chapters to change, delete, or add.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I adore the chocolate babka from Trader Joe’s!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, so I like to get out to write. I wrote much of ‘The Sleeping Beauties’ in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, surrounded by so many of the dance reference books I needed for my research.
10--Who is an author you admire?
I love every novel by Sarah Waters, particularly Fingersmith. Each of her novels are a perfect blend of historical detail and thrilling suspense.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Reading ‘Pride & Prejudice’ in English lessons when I was at the Royal Ballet School – I had a wonderful teacher who inspired me to believe in myself and my love of literature. And I became an English teacher too!
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was staying with my parents in the South-West of England, and we were out walking on the beautiful, rugged coastal path. I stopped to take a photo and noticed an email from my agent. We had an offer from a fantastic publisher!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Historical novels (recently I’ve loved The Marriage Portrait, Weyward, and In Memoriam).
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Notting Hill – how could I resist a film about a book shop, Hugh Grant, and a beautiful love story?!
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer – especially the last few weeks in NYC as the temperature falls to that perfect warmth for sitting outside in the evening.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I like to spend it with family, particularly my twin sister. Birthdays are more fun when you get to share them!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The Brainy Ballerina Podcast (hosted by Caitlin Sloan) is excellent, featuring dancers from a range of backgrounds and who have made dance part of their life in different ways. I highly recommend it for anyone trying to navigate their way through the competitive world of dance – the conversations are open, honest and inspirational.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian – I could eat pasta every day.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Running, taking ballet classes, and going to the gym – exercise is very important to me and helps boost my mood.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My next book (coming Fall 2025) takes me in a new direction – it’s a psychological thriller set in the 1960s about an ex-fashion model who develops an obsession with her psychotherapist.
Late spring 1945, London: The war in Europe is over. But for Briar Woods, a dancer at Sadler’s Wells Ballet, the past resurfaces and she must come face to face with the truth. It feels as though her war has only just begun.
Since 1939, Rosamund Caradon had taken in many children from Britain’s bombarded cities, sheltering them in her Devonshire manor. Now, with Germany’s surrender, she is en route to London to return the last evacuees, accompanied by her dance-obsessed daughter Jasmine. Rosamund vows to protect Jasmine from any peril, but a chance meeting with a Sadler’s Wells dancer changes everything. When the beautiful, elusive Briar Woods bursts into Rosamund’s train carriage, it’s clear her sights are set on the captivated Jasmine. As Briar sets out to charm them both, Rosamund cannot shake the eerie feeling this accidental encounter isn’t what it seems. While Briar may be far away from the pointe shoes and greasepaint of The Sleeping Beauty ballet rehearsals, her performance for Rosamund might just be her most successful yet. A dance that could turn deadly . . .
Suspense Historical [Union Square Press, On Sale: September 10, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781454951254 / eISBN: 9781454951261]
LUCY ASHE is the author of CLARA & OLIVIA (Magpie, Oneworld publications, UK)/ THE DANCE OF THE DOLLS (Union Square & Co, US). CLARA & OLIVIA was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger.
Her second novel, THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES, is out now in the UK and is coming to the US in September 2024. Lucy trained at The Royal Ballet School for eight years, first as a Junior Associate and then at White Lodge. She has a Diploma in Dance Teaching with the British Ballet Organisation. She studied English Literature at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, while continuing to dance and perform. After graduation, she obtained a PGCE teaching qualification and became an English teacher. Her poetry and short stories have been published in a number of literary journals and she was shortlisted for the 2020 Impress Prize for New Writers.
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