Golden Earrings. By Belinda Alexandra (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
A gifted ballet dancer, Paloma Batton is humiliated at not being chosen for the Paris Opera Ballet. Given another chance to audition she’s not confident of passing as she realises her failure to win a place the first time was due to a personal grievance of Arielle Marineau, a member of the selection panel, and nothing to do with her dancing ability.Her grandmother has always been reticent about her past, something that hasn’t bothered Paloma until she sees a ghost. That, combined with Arielle Marineau’s vindictive attitude makes her curious. Encouraging Mamie, her grandmother, to tell her story, Paloma is drawn into a world of lies, deceit, intrigue and tragedy. Set in Paris and Barcelona, and travelling back and forth between the Spanish Civil War to the 1970s, this novel will keep you reading into the early hours as Belinda Alexandra seamlessly weaves history and fiction together creating a stunning tale. This is a masterfully crafted, rich feast of a read. Knowing too well the amount of time, effort and hope that goes into writing a novel, I won’t review a book unless I have only good things to say about it … and I have lots of terrific things to say about this one.Alexandra creates a passionate, deeply interwoven story about a girl, Celestina, born in Barcelona’s early 20th century ghettos, who survives to become a world class Flamenco dancer. Through Spain’s turbulent civil unrest, she becomes involved with the Montello family whose wealth and naïve sense of privilege amidst Spain’s elite represent everything she has been raised to hate. The book opens in 1970s Paris with Celestina’s ghost appearing to a young, disheartened ballet dancer named Paloma who lives with her grandmother, Mamie, in the same building where they run a small ballet studio. In the solemn quiet of that early morning, Celestina wordlessly gives Paloma a set of golden hoop earrings. And so the mystery begins.The book’s setting sweeps expertly between Franco’s dictatorial ascendency in Spain and 1970s Paris. Even while we read about Paloma’s more contemporary challenges, the brutal atmospherics of Spain’s civil war and their implications for individuals − in this case Celestina, her family and all of the Montella family members − permeate the story. Alexandra’s characters love, hate, betray and are betrayed. The romance and intrigue build with slow-burning intensity, as does the full realisation of the destructiveness of key characters’ deep-seeded misperceptions and misunderstandings about each other as a result of their shattered circumstances. Just when you might think that Alexandra can’t raise the stakes any higher, she does.She also clearly did extensive research. Not only is the story satisfying, but so is the history lesson. In considering early 20th century history, many of us may be inclined to focus on the two world wars to the extent that they overshadow the ferocity of Spain’s civil war and the ways in which it scarred its population. This account will certainly encourage you to reflect on that further. Her knowledge of the cultural and artistic details of her eras − including the emotional and technical aspects of Flamenco dancing, piano concertos, Catalan traditions and language − is equally impressive. I was particularly gobsmacked by this book’s structure. Alexandra tells the story from three points of view while working between two different eras. Plenty of experienced writers would falter with this. But instead of rehashing prior scenes, Alexandra moves from each point of view to the next in a way that seamlessly moves the story forward. This was definitely a book that I was sorry to see end.
What do You think about Golden Earrings. By Belinda Alexandra (2011)?
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Nice acknowledgement at the end of the book too
—Alanna
Wow, Totally a page turner. Enjoyed immensely.
—anne
