ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Although it is my name — ‘Belinda Alexandra’ — on the cover of my books, I sometimes think that should read ‘Belinda Alexandra & Company’ because there are so many wonderful people behind the scenes who work very hard to make each book the best it can be.
I would like to start by thanking my energetic and passionate literary agent, Selwa Anthony, who championed Golden Earrings from the beginning and gave me invaluable feedback during the writing process.
I would also like to thank the team at HarperCollins Publishers Australia for their enthusiasm for Golden Earrings and all they do to support me. In particular I would like to thank my wonderful publishers, Anna Valdinger and Sue Brockhoff, along with Amanda O’Connell, Jane Finemore, and the dynamic sales and marketing team.
I was privileged again to have Nicola O’Shea as the editor for this book. Her sympathetic and insightful style always makes working with her a great pleasure. Thank you also to my proofreaders, Kate O’Donnell and Chrysoula Georgopoulos.
I’d also like to extend my gratitude to the experts and scholars who kindly gave me their time and shared their specialist knowledge to help me with the research for the novel: Marina Vidal, who checked the use of Spanish and Catalan and gave me advice on culture issues; Doctor Francisco J. Romero Salvadó of the University of Bristol and Professor Sebastian Balfour of the London School of Economics and Political Science for helping me with historical details regarding the Spanish Civil War; Nathalie Meier who kindly wrote correspondence for me in French and helped with cultural questions; and Kari Hanet who shared some wonderful anecdotes and other details about life in Paris in the 1970s.
I was touched by the enthusiastic help I received from the dance world while researching this book. In particular I would like to thank: Laurie Lubeck-Yeames and her mother, Nicole Alderguer, for the invaluable feedback they gave me on the ballet scenarios; Elizabeth Platel, the director of the School of the Paris Opera Ballet for her information on how the school and examinations were run in the 1970s; Lisa Howell and Catherine Jenneke for putting me in contact with various ballet specialists; and to Kate Sirvins for helping me with ballet terms. I would also like to thank Lucy Vernon for her feedback on the flamenco dance scenes.
Special thanks also goes to Paulina O’Kane of Ku-ring-gai library for the help she gave in organising my interlibrary loans (of which there were nearly 50 for this book) and her cheerful willingness to track down even the most obscure titles.
Finally, but not least I would like to thank my friends, family and animals for keeping me sane and grounded. Thank you in particular to my treasured husband, Mauro, for his patience with the long hours it took to write a book set in two countries with three different languages, two time periods and three main characters. I’d also like to thank my wonderful father, Stan, for the practical help he gave me in collecting and returning library books on my behalf so I wouldn’t have to leave my desk!
The energy and good will of all the above mentioned people made writing Golden Earrings a pleasure I will always remember.
About the Author
Belinda Alexandra has been published to wide acclaim in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Norway, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary and soon in the United States. She is the daughter of a Russian mother and an Australian father and has been an intrepid traveller since her youth. Her love of other cultures is matched by her passion for her home country, Australia, where she is a volunteer carer for the New South Wales Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES).
Discover the world with Belinda Alexandra …
White Gardenia
From the glamorous nightclubs of 1930s Shanghai to the bitter days of Cold War Russia, Anya must roam the four corners of the globe to search for what she values most. Buy it now.
Wild Lavender
Simone Fleurier’s sweeping journey from the rambling fields of Provence in the 1920s to the music halls of Paris and jazz–age New York shows that love, like lavender, can bloom in the unlikeliest places. Buy it now.
Silver Wattle
The dazzling story of Adéla and Klára, two exceptional sisters searching for success, love and salvation in the Australian film world of the 1920s. Buy it now.
Tuscan Rose
As Mussolini’s grip tightens around beautiful Italy in the 1930s, the young orphan Rosa must discover exactly what she is willing to sacrifice for survival. Buy it now.
Sapphire Skies
What really happened to Soviet fighter pilot Natalya when her plane went down in WWII? Secrets and lies, enduring love and terrible sacrifice all combine in this story of a love to defy the decades. Buy it now.
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2011
This edition published in 2014
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Belinda Alexandra 2011
The right of Belinda Alexandra to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Alexandra, Belinda.
Golden earrings / Belinda Alexandra.
ISBN 978 0 7322 9195 2 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978 0 7304 9776 9 (epub)
A823.4
Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover images by shutterstock.com
Golden Earrings Page 50
