Benita Brown – författare

It's a cold winter's night in 1906 but nothing can dampen the high spirits of Constance Bannerman and her fellow skivvy and best friend, Nella. For tomorrow, Constance can escape her life of drudgery at Doctor Sowerby's home in Newcastle by marrying her handsome sweetheart, the prosperous John Edington. But Constance's last night of servitude is to end in terror. As a final act of spite, Mrs Sowerby throws her out of the house late that evening where she is met by the doctor's dissolute son, Gerald. In the front yard, surrounded by freezing fog, Gerald attacks and rapes her. Distraught and unsure of what to do, Constance marries John the next day with a heavy heart. She cannot tell John what has happened, for his is a respectable family, and shame will not allow her to reveal the truth to Nella. But the worst is yet to come, for John Edington himself has a shocking secret that will make Constance feel more alone than ever...

More than a decade has gone by since Esther Cunningham, weakened by the consumption which would soon take her life, left her precious daughter in her mother's care. Now eighteen, Lorna Cunningham is eagerly awaiting the day when she can leave the Newcastle house in which she's known only heartache. The Arabian ancestry of the father she has never known has meant that she has been nothing more than an unwelcome guest in her grandmother's home, forced to take second place to her spoilt cousin, Rose, who has wanted for neither love nor material comforts.Lorna takes comfort from her growing friendship with bookseller Edwin Randall, who shares her love of reading and inspires her with his passion to improve the terrible conditions of the Newcastle slums. But their relationship is overshadowed by Lorna's infatuation with the handsome and charismatic Maurice Haldane - the man Rose is determined she herself will marry and who has the power to change all their lives for ever...

Newcastle, 1890. A school outing to Cullercoats Bay almost ends in tragedy when two girls are cut off by the incoming tide. But from the panic and confusion something wonderful emerges - a lifelong friendship between three girls; Ruth, Lucy and Esther. Each is a world apart from the other two, but together they form a strong and unbreakable bond that will see them through the years ahead, when the happy, carefree days of childhood are nothing but a distant memory...

When his beautiful young wife dies in childbirth, Captain Samuel Walton is grief-stricken. He had idolised Effie, despite her spoilt and headstrong ways, and he now faces the task of raising their two daughters alone. Fifteen years later, and the baby girl who brought such tragedy is the mirror image of her mother. But flaxen-haired Flora is also showing signs of Effie's tempestuous temperament. Sensible Josie worries her younger sister may be led astray. But even she could not predict how a chance meeting between Flora and a seductive stranger would plunge the whole family into danger...

Cullercoats Bay, 1895. Titian-haired Kate Lawson is eighteen when the sea claims her beloved and leaves her with a broken heart - and a shameful secret. Banished from home by her violent father, Kate relies on the kindness of her aunt, until she too is cruelly taken from her. When Kate meets Richard Adamson, the owner of a fleet of steam trawlers, she knows she should despise the man who's stealing the livelihood of hardworking fisherfolk - yet she finds herself falling in love with him. Has Kate found her safe harbour at last, or will the sins of the past destroy her chance for happiness?

Daisy Belle, a gifted singer from the Tyneside backstreets, is devastated when her baby daughter Rose goes missing. Little does she know Rose has been stolen and given to a wealthy woman who, tricked into believing she's an orphan, adopts her and renames her Rosina. Worse still, it was all arranged by Daisy's ruthlessly ambitious agent, Jack Fidler. Years later, when tragedy strikes, Rosina runs away to join a theatrical troupe and her natural talent for singing wins the hearts of the crowds. But this brings her into direct competition with one of the northern music halls' established stars, Daisy Belle - and back into the path of Jack, who is determined to destroy her...

Benita Brown's brilliant new novel of heartache, siblings and falling in love, set in the lead up to the Second World War and events that threaten even the strongest of family bonds.Following the death of their parents, the Mitchell siblings are tragically split up. While Helen is taken in by their selfish aunt, her twin brothers find themselves in a cold, soul destroying orphanage, and their younger sister is adopted and spoilt by the wealthy Partingtons. Years later, desperate to get her family back together, Helen escapes to London and works as a waitress in Soho, where she meets the charismatic young reporter Matthew Renshaw. Together they search for her lost family, as around them the country prepares for war...

Village girl Linda Bellwood has always been in awe of the glamorous Hylton family. So when they hire her as companion to the grandmother, she's thrilled. However, when her friendship with the youngest son Florian blossoms into something more, the rest of the family are not so welcoming.Disowned and thrown out, Linda and Florian escape to the city and struggle to keep afloat in the depths of bohemian London. With Florian squandering their money on his far-fetched dreams of becoming a writer, their relationship begins to unravel. But then war is declared and their troubles seem to pale in comparison with the challenges ahead...

Diaspora studies continue to expand in range and scope and remain fertile terrain for investigating multiple techniques of myth creation in dance performance, history as performance, dramatic narrative, and staged rituals in the field. Similarly, research in postcoloniality, gender/sexuality, intercultural, and literary studies, among others, all engage and feature core components of performance and myth in articulating and understanding their fields. This sharing of similar components also demonstrates the interrelatedness of these fields.In Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance, the authors contend that performance traditions across artistic disciplines reveal a shared—if sometimes varied—journey among diasporic artists to reconnect with their African ancestors. The volume begins with a historical and aesthetic overview of how dramatists, choreographers, and performance artists have approached the task of interpreting African myth. The individual chapters reveal how specific artists, dramatists, and choreographers have interpreted African myth and what performative approaches and traditions they have used. Focusing on theatre practitioners from the nineteenth century through the present, the authors examine performative traditions from Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Drawing upon research in theatre, dance, and literary texts, Myth Performance in the African Diasporas will be crucial to academics interested in African performance viewed through the prism of myth making and spiritual/ritualistic stagings. Besides those interested in diasporic studies, this book will also be useful to scholars and students of history, drama, theatre, and dance.

After the fall of France, three young evacuees from the east end of Newcastle are sent to the safety of a country village. Billeted in a grand house with a spinster and her niece, Hazel, Irene and Carol's futures will be irrevocably changed by their new lives. When peace is declared, and Hazel and Irene return to the families they were forced to leave, they find Newcastle very different to the home they remembered. Mourning the people they love, they try to start again. But when they're invited back to celebrate the Coronation of young Queen Elizabeth, they must find a way to come to terms with the past...

The Foundations of Dance: An Anthology provides readers with a carefully selected collection of articles that introduce them to various dance forms and their respective movements. The anthology features differentiating perspectives on ballet, jazz, and modern dance, as well as explorations about dance as ethnography, production, performance, legacy, and tradition. The various authors whose writings are included within the volume approach traditional dance subject matter from perspectives that incorporate dance as an expression of humanity, the relationship between choreography and elements of dance, the performing arts industry, spirituality and dance, LGBTQ traditions in dance, and the American dance scene. Additional readings underscore the importance of mentoring, the role of matriarchs, and the passing on of heritage within dance communities. Each article is supplemented with post-reading questions to inspire critical thought and reflection. Covering information value to individuals currently teaching or planning to teach dance classes, The Foundations of Dance is an ideal resource for courses in dance and the arts. It can also be used by dance instructors who own studios and work within their communities.