Clair de Lune

Clair-de-Lune has lived all her life with her grandmother at the top of a very old building. Her mother, a great ballerina, died on stage when Clair-de-Lune was a baby. Clair-de-Lune has not uttered a word since. After ballet one day, Clair-de-Lune meets Bonaventure (a talking dancer-mouse) who takes her to a mysterious monastery. There she meets the kindly monk Brother Inchamore and learns that it is only by being able to listen that you can learn to speak. The kindness of her two friends helps Clair-de-Lune on her journey, but on the way she has to say goodbye to one of these two dear friends... The best ballet book I've read for years. * The Times * Fresh, unusual, inventive, in fact wholly original...This is a truly modern day fairy tale about love...Perfect. * The Guardian * A most unusual pleasure is Clair de Lune, the poetic and philosophical story of the 12-year-old ballet dancer whose mother died on stage of a broken heart. She is lonely and mute, but encounters with a talking mouse and a wise monk help her to understand big truths about love and freedom and sacrifice. * The Sunday Telegraph * Golds writes with a profound sympathy for lonely, sensitive children that I have come across only in Joan Aitken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse. * The Times * Best of all, this is a story that conveys both the beauty and glamour of the dance and also the sacrifices you have to make for its sake. Very importantly too, it's a book about the power of love. The touching relationship between Clair-de-Lune and her little mouse friend makes a tale (pun intended) that will move even the youngest reader. * The Guardian * From the first sentence of this enchanting, moving tale, you know this is an author with a very captivating voice indeed. * The Guardian * A most unusual pleasure ... poetic and philosophical * The Sunday Times * An unusual, beautifully written and compelling novel with real substance and an uplifting conclusion * The Northern Echo * A story of love, loss and survival ... the reader is left with a sense of fulfilment and optimism * School Librarian *