Book Tour: Arabesque

                                   

ARABESQUE

by M G da Mota

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE: historical psychological drama

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BLURB:

 

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.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT

 

 

She stands staring at the little tree for a moment longer. So small. So fragile. But it will soon grow. She’s read copper beaches can grow up to forty metres in height. That would be enormous but she hopes hers will stay smaller. She will get someone to prune it. Any more than ten to fifteen metres high and the neighbours may complain it is too tall and dangerous. She loves copper beeches, always has. On clear days the sun makes their leaves shine a deep, metallic red. Beautiful. She has wanted one for a long time. Now is the right moment. She smiles, then taking a deep breath goes in, shuts the French doors and walks to the kitchen. 

 

She undresses in the dark. Her clothes are stained from the dirt. She throws them in the washing machine and sets it going at a high temperature. Without flicking on the lights she walks upstairs to her bedroom. Diabo is soundly asleep on her bed. She touches the cat gently, then goes to the bathroom and showers quickly. Slipping into her pyjamas and crawling under the bedcovers she wonders whether sleep will come. She needn’t worry. Her eyelids drop heavily, firmly shutting her eyes to the world and the annoying voices in her head. Within seconds she falls into a peaceful sleep. The sleep of the innocents as her mother would once have said.

 

Grace’s Personal Account, Solis Rehab Centre, England 2023

 

The story, my story, which I’ve been asked to recount here, happened mostly in 2022. The year after the end of the pandemic. Perhaps it’s more accurately described as the year when things returned to some kind of normality. But it turned out to be a year of confusion, terrible events and scandals. Russia invaded Ukraine. “Partygate”, or how the rules and laws were broken at Downing Street during the lockdowns exploded. The prime minister, after much lying, dishonesty and scandal was forced to resign but didn’t apologise. The next prime minister lasted only six weeks in the job, after authorising a budget that caused instability and turmoil in the markets. And it was the year of the summer of pandemonium in European air travel. Seen in the grand scheme of things, my story is irrelevant. I’m writing it because my psychiatrist, Dr Liz Logan, asked me to. She thinks it’ll do me good and help my “healing”. Her words, not mine. I don’t think I’m unwell and in need of healing. But as she requested me (ordered me?), here goes!

 

My full name is Grace Louise Miller and my story began innocently enough in January 2022 when I saw him in London for the first time. He was walking on the Strand, heading in the direction of Trafalgar Square. Early evening. Around five. I sat in the number 11 bus going in the opposite direction. Heavy traffic meant it moved forward slowly. From my window seat I suddenly noticed him. Tall and elegant he stood out from the crowds of pedestrians, walking with grace, as if floating on air. I briefly glimpsed his face in profile but it was dark, difficult to perceive his features. Then the bus moved and I lost him from view.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

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.

 

 

LINK WHERE BOOK IS SOLD:

 

Amazon UK : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arabesque-M-G-Mota-ebook/dp/B0D7CMSD5F/

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Arabesque-M-G-Mota-ebook/dp/B0D7CMSD5F/

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

 

The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

<a href="https://kingsumo.com/g/1knnlj1/arabesque">Enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN gift card</a>.