Category: Reviews

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Nadine by John Steinberg. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation to join the tour and for my review copy.

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About the Book

London 1974 and Peter Greenberg is riding high. Thanks to his magic touch, every play he puts on in Theatreland is a hit and the money is rolling in. The young man’s empire feels secure – but then everything changes. One evening, he calls in to see a rival’s musical and falls head over heels in love.

The beautiful Paris-born dancer who catches his eye is Nadine – a major star in the making. Like Greenberg, the young dancer too is in love – but with someone else. The eternal triangle is complicated by the birth of a child, and by tragic secrets that go back before World War Two; slowly,those secrets reveal themselves in a drama that out-performs anything on the West End stage or Broadway.

Nadine is a poignant story of unrequited love, a love that will one day be returned – and in a most unexpected way…

Format: ebook (244 pp.)                    Publisher: 2QT Publishing
Publication date: 22nd May 2019  Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
*link provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find Nadine on Goodreads

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My Review

When Peter Greenberg catches sight of dancer, Nadine Bertrand, it sets in train a series of events that will dominate the course of his life. His obsession with Nadine sees him attempt to help her career but also make her a permanent fixture in his life. Unfortunately he is unaware of much that is going on in her life and the dramatic effect this will have on her mental stability. He never wavers in his love for her and, even when tragedy strikes, he remains determined to demonstrate his adoration in the only way he knows how. As he discovers, he is not alone in his devotion to Nadine.

The book takes the reader behind the scenes of the world of musical theatre production, from concept and script development, to hiring composers and directors, to casting actors. It’s a high risk business where the possibility of financial ruin lies always around the corner.

The event involving a key character which takes place part way through the book represents a bold move on the author’s part but as a coup de théâtre is in keeping with the nature of the storyline. It’s the sort of thing that would have an audience of a play buzzing with conversation at the interval.

Readers attracted to the book, like me, by the mention in the blurb of secrets from World War Two may appreciate knowing that these play a very minor role in the story. The author also introduces a side story concerning financial shenanigans by a particularly dodgy individual.

In Nadine, the author presents the reader with a picture of the power of love to last a lifetime, or even beyond.

In three words: Emotional, dramatic, tragic
Try something similar: Bells of Avalon by Libbet Bradstreet (read my review here)

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About the Author

John Steinberg was born in 1952 and spent many years in business before becoming a writer in 2007. Since then, he has co-written and produced comedies for the stage and has created a series of books for children. Nadine is his third novel. He is married with three children and lives in North London.

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