Guest Post & #Giveaway: Arabesque by M G da Mota

Archaeolibrarian
14 hours ago
3 min read

@m.g.da.mota @GoddessFishPromotions

@mgdamota @goddessfishpromotions

#Historical, #Psychological, #Drama,

Arabesque is a step in classic ballet, an appropriate title for a novel narrating the beauty of ballet and the artistry and athleticism involved; with the dancers’ stories depicting everything a romantic ballet should have: love, passion, obsession, deception, courage, determination, happiness, drama, fun. And sadness.

A woman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beech sapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?

A ballet dancer in 1960s East Germany is oppressed, longs for escaping with his little daughter but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?

In 2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with two young children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principal dancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers to their private lives.

Against the background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her story from a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional she begins believing Ivone robbed her of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in a garden...What connects all these people and their stories?

You’ll be the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.

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First Variation – Amadeus

Berlin, East Germany, July 1965

Amadeus gazes at his wife. Margarete or Grete, as is her preference, sleeps, exhausted from the effort of birth. Her hair appears glued to her forehead, wet from perspiration. Next to her, in a plain white hospital baby cot, their daughter is also asleep. He touches the little girl’s head gently. The baby, a small bundle inside the clothes too large for her, stirs marginally but does not wake. He arranges the cover around her slight body to keep her warm. She was born with hair, if one could call the blonde fluff hair. His chest swells. He already loves that little person with all the force of his being. Swallowing a couple of emotional tears he realises he will do anything, anything, to protect her. He wants her to grow up in peace, in freedom, to be able to make her own choices. With a heavy heart he wonders whether such wishes will ever be possible in this German Democratic Republic where democratic is a word devoid of meaning.

East Germany may be a lot of things but democratic is not one of them. Will he be able to adequately protect this tiny being and give her all she deserves? His chest tightens. He may have to shelter her from her own mother. Feeling shivers down his spine he recalls how his fears, his suspicions were confirmed a few months earlier, just after Grete told him she was pregnant.

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A top ten list of something—movies, hunky men, sultry women, sexy foods, erotic reads

I thought this topic was playful and amusing and, as my other posts have all been serious, I decided I’d go for this one as my last just for a bit of fun.

My top ten hunky men (alive and dead)

1. George Clooney

2. Tom Hiddleston

3. Denzel Washington

4. Hugh Jackman

5. Robert Redford

6. Pierce Brosnan

7. Cary Grant

8. James Dean

9. Paul Newman

10. Chris Hemsworth

My top ten movies of all time

1. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2. The Sting (1973)

3. Conclave (2024)

4. The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

5. Beauty And The Beast (Disney’s animated film from 1991)

6. Ocean’s Eleven (the remake of 2001)

7. It’s A Beautiful Life (1946)

8. Rear Window (1954)

9. The Greatest Showman (2017)

10. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001 to 2003)

M G da Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen name for fiction. She is a Portuguese-British novelist with a love for classical music, ballet and opera. Under her real name she also writes reviews of live concerts, CDs, DVDs and books for two classical music magazines on the web: MusicWeb International and Seen and Heard International. She is a member of the UK Society of Authors, speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with her husband. Her website, called flowingprose.com, contains photos and information.

Website: https://www.flowingprose.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/m.g.da.mota

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margarida-mota-bull/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mgdamota/