Paris, 1878. Ballet dancer Marie van Goethem is chosen by the unknown artist Edgar Degas to model for his new sculpture: Little Dancer, aged fourteen years.

But Marie is much more than she seems. By day she's a 'little rat' of the opera, contorting her starving body to entertain the bourgeoisie. By night she's plotting to overthrow the government and reinstate the Paris Commune, to keep a promise she made to her father, a leading Communard who died in the street massacres of 1871.

As Marie watches the troubling sculpture of herself come to life in Degas' hands, she falls further into the intoxicating world of bohemian, Impressionist Paris, a world at odds with the socialist principles she has vowed to uphold.

With the fifth Impressionist Exhibition looming, a devastating family secret is uncovered which changes everything for both Marie and Degas. As Degas struggles to finish his sculpture and the police close in on Marie, she must decide where her loyalties lie and act to save herself, her family and the Little Dancer.

Anarchist, ballerina, revolutionary, muse: a historical novel inspired by the iconic Degas sculpture

About the Author
Melanie Leschallas is a writer, performer, therapist and yoga teacher who danced and modelled in Paris in her twenties. She holds a BA from Bristol University in French and Italian and two MAs - one in Drama and Movement Therapy from Central School in London and one in Creative Writing and Authorship from Sussex University. Melanie divides her time between the UK and Spain, where she leads yoga and creativity retreats from her house in the magical mountains behind Malaga.

Reviews

'In this multi-layered, cinematic novel with multiple meanings, from the social and historical to the psychological (especially in the complicated family relationships) and symbolic, Melanie Leschallas creates endearing characters and challenges us to think' Observator Cultural

Book Information
ISBN 9781800181205
Author Melanie Leschallas
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Unbound
Publisher Unbound