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purplepenwriter 's review for:
Starring Adele Astaire
by Eliza Knight
A charming and entertaining read.
Every year I have hummingbirds take up residence in the tree in my backyard. It usually ends up being only a single bird that has fought off all the others to claim the tree as his own. This year, I have a pair that seem to be attached to each other somehow. They flit around the tree and often “dance” among the branches. After reading Starring Adele Astaire by Eliza Knight, I have named them Freddie and Delly.
Starring Adele Astaire recounts the life of the lesser-known Astaire sibling, from her first journey to London in her mid-twenties through her second marriage after WWII. She and her younger brother Fred Astaire danced together from the time they were children on the vaudeville circuit to become one of the most famous dance duos the world has ever known. But, Fred Astaire became the more famous of the pair, with a dance legacy that lives on today.
I must admit, I knew nothing about Adele until reading this novel and I was amazed at the fantastic life she led. She dated princes and socialized with the ultra-elite of American and British society. But, deep down all she wanted was to marry and have a family of her own. She gave up her dance career in 1932 after dancing with Fred for 27 years and married Lord Charles Cavendish. Adele would suffer the death of four children – her first daughter born premature died shortly after birth, twin boys were stillborn two years later, and at age 42 her final pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. The tragic losses of her children left her depressed and feeling as a failure, often wondering if she should have continued her career instead of trying to have a family. Lord Cavendish was an alcoholic that would lose his life at the age of 38 from long-term alcohol poisoning.
Adele utilized her fame and good fortune to help others during WWII, first opening the Cavendish castle Lismore to act as a convalescent home for wounded service men and then later writing letters home for servicemen and providing dance lessons at the American Red Cross’s Rainbow Corner canteen. She would later marry Colonel Kingman Douglass who had recommended she join the Red Cross effort in London.
In the novel, Adele maintains a life-long friendship with Violet Wood. Violet hailed from the poverty-stricken East End of London and all she ever wanted was to be a dancer. Adele gave Violet her first break when she insisted she be added to the chorus line in her first London show Stop Flirting. Violet’s fame rose along with Adele during that show, but after her mother died, she left dancing to raise her young sister. Adele and Violet go for long periods of time when they don’t speak to each other, often embarrassed by their life circumstances. But when they do write or see each other, their bond remains strong. Eventually, Violet returns to the stage and her fame rises once again. Through all the ups and downs, the friendship between Adele and Violet endures.
I think the reason Adele Astaire has not received the attention of her younger brother Fred must be because she resigned from her dancing career to start a family and Fred continued to become an early film star. Starring Adele Astaire is a lovely tribute to a life well-lived and a woman, who by all accounts, was witty, funny, beautiful, compassionate, and strong-willed.
If you like strong female protagonists and learning about lesser-known historical figures, you will love Starring Adele Astaire.
Many thanks to Eliza Knight, HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of this novel.
Every year I have hummingbirds take up residence in the tree in my backyard. It usually ends up being only a single bird that has fought off all the others to claim the tree as his own. This year, I have a pair that seem to be attached to each other somehow. They flit around the tree and often “dance” among the branches. After reading Starring Adele Astaire by Eliza Knight, I have named them Freddie and Delly.
Starring Adele Astaire recounts the life of the lesser-known Astaire sibling, from her first journey to London in her mid-twenties through her second marriage after WWII. She and her younger brother Fred Astaire danced together from the time they were children on the vaudeville circuit to become one of the most famous dance duos the world has ever known. But, Fred Astaire became the more famous of the pair, with a dance legacy that lives on today.
I must admit, I knew nothing about Adele until reading this novel and I was amazed at the fantastic life she led. She dated princes and socialized with the ultra-elite of American and British society. But, deep down all she wanted was to marry and have a family of her own. She gave up her dance career in 1932 after dancing with Fred for 27 years and married Lord Charles Cavendish. Adele would suffer the death of four children – her first daughter born premature died shortly after birth, twin boys were stillborn two years later, and at age 42 her final pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. The tragic losses of her children left her depressed and feeling as a failure, often wondering if she should have continued her career instead of trying to have a family. Lord Cavendish was an alcoholic that would lose his life at the age of 38 from long-term alcohol poisoning.
Adele utilized her fame and good fortune to help others during WWII, first opening the Cavendish castle Lismore to act as a convalescent home for wounded service men and then later writing letters home for servicemen and providing dance lessons at the American Red Cross’s Rainbow Corner canteen. She would later marry Colonel Kingman Douglass who had recommended she join the Red Cross effort in London.
In the novel, Adele maintains a life-long friendship with Violet Wood. Violet hailed from the poverty-stricken East End of London and all she ever wanted was to be a dancer. Adele gave Violet her first break when she insisted she be added to the chorus line in her first London show Stop Flirting. Violet’s fame rose along with Adele during that show, but after her mother died, she left dancing to raise her young sister. Adele and Violet go for long periods of time when they don’t speak to each other, often embarrassed by their life circumstances. But when they do write or see each other, their bond remains strong. Eventually, Violet returns to the stage and her fame rises once again. Through all the ups and downs, the friendship between Adele and Violet endures.
I think the reason Adele Astaire has not received the attention of her younger brother Fred must be because she resigned from her dancing career to start a family and Fred continued to become an early film star. Starring Adele Astaire is a lovely tribute to a life well-lived and a woman, who by all accounts, was witty, funny, beautiful, compassionate, and strong-willed.
If you like strong female protagonists and learning about lesser-known historical figures, you will love Starring Adele Astaire.
Many thanks to Eliza Knight, HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of this novel.