It’s 1943 – in the midst of World War II - and a young Rose runs away from her boring Durham home for London. She is enthralled by the romance and excitement of the Rainbow Corner, a dance hall set up by the Red Cross that always has its doors open for the visiting American servicemen. In the present day, Jane was meant to be at church getting married but instead she walks into a Las Vegas bar in her wedding dress and ends up marrying the first guy she chats to – artist Leo whose life is rather screwed up. Told over these two narratives – in the past and present – this is a totally engrossing story. I loved the way Rose and Jane’s stories came together. And you can really see that Manning has a real passion for the history of the Rainbow Corner and what life was like for Londoners during the war. A superb read.
After the Last Dance, by Sarra Manning, is about two women separated by time but connected by fate. The summary says: "1943, King's Cross station: Rose arrives in London and swaps the drudgery of wartime for romance, glamour and jiving with GIs at Rainbow Corner, the famous dance hall in Piccadilly Circus. As the bombs drop, Rose loses her heart to a pilot, but never imagines that she has much more to lose. Present day, Las Vegas: A beautiful woman in a wedding dress walks into a seedy bar and asks the first man she sees to marry her. When Leo slips that ring onto Jane's finger it sets off a chain of events that brings her crashing into Rose's world. Two very different women. Two very different lives. With time running out, can Rose and Jane finally make peace with the secrets that have threatened to destroy them?" After the Last Dance is out in December 2015.