{"id":87,"date":"2013-01-07T15:43:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T15:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/newwp\/?page_id=87"},"modified":"2024-05-22T10:22:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T09:22:11","slug":"novel-extract","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/writing\/novel-extract\/","title":{"rendered":"Novel extract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Girl reading: a portrait of Ellis Denham<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an extract from my second novel, which is a work in progress.<\/em><\/p>\n

After flunking her A-levels, Edie moves to London in 1984 to look for work. Through her friend Nick, she has found a job in a West End theatre. <\/em><\/p>\n

Most of the characters in this scene are introduced to the reader for the first time. Sarah, however, the reader knows already. She is an old family friend of Edie\u2019s. Nick is Sarah\u2019s boyfriend. And Ken, the theatre manager, also appears in an earlier chapter.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWas that your young man you was saying goodbye to outside?\u201d asked Norma, flipping the lids off a row of small bottles. \u201cBugger! Number seven wanted slimline.\u201d She picked up one of the bottles and held it above her head like an auctioneer. \u201cAnyone want a tonic?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelda \u2013 who was helping Edie arrange the pre-ordered interval drinks on the narrow gilt and onyx tables that lined the foyer \u2013 leaned against the bar and smiled sweetly at Norma. \u201cCould I get some vodka in that?\u201d she asked. Then, turning to Edie, \u201cWho\u2019s this man? You found a boyfriend, Ede? Or was it Nick?\u201d<\/p>\n

With her luminous skin, long, wavy hair and blue eyes made-up with soft, shimmery greens, greys and heathers, Zelda looked like an angel. This was perhaps why she managed to get away with things that other people wouldn\u2019t \u2013 although not usually where Norma was concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it weren\u2019t Nick,\u201d said Norma. \u201cI\u2019d recognise Nick. Wait a sec, Edie! There\u2019s an orange juice to go with those Cinzanos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone at the theatre liked Nick. Norma and Fred, the doorman, treated him like a favourite nephew. Ken sometimes invited him to share a Canadian Club upstairs in his office. And Zelda flirted with him with a determination that sometimes made Edie uncomfortable. She didn\u2019t think Sarah would be happy about it. Nick, though, said it meant nothing; it was just Zelda being Australian. Edie wasn\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go, duck.\u201d Norma shoved a can of Britvic orange juice in a tumbler across the scuffed marble bar top.<\/p>\n

Edie took her time setting out the drinks, hoping to evade her workmates\u2019 questions. But there was no chance of that, even if Zelda and Norma were briefly diverted by an argument over the vodka.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll pay,\u201d Zelda was saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that, Zel. You know Ken don\u2019t allow drinking during the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelda tossed her hair and snorted like a pony. \u201cYeah. Ken who knocks back half a bottle of whisky most evenings. He won\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norma shook her head. \u201cHe may drink in his office but you don\u2019t see him drinking in the foyer. And \u2013 when I last looked \u2013 you don\u2019t have an office, so you ain\u2019t getting no vodka.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd who, may I ask, is the unhappy, officeless inebriate?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelda collapsed in silent giggles. Ken somehow always managed to appear out of nowhere at just the wrong moment. It hadn\u2019t taken Edie long to learn not to talk about him while she was at work. But Zelda didn\u2019t care what Ken thought about her. She\u2019d come to London after studying interior design in Melbourne. After six months of waitressing and working at the theatre, she\u2019d now got a proper job in an architect\u2019s studio. She probably wouldn\u2019t stay at the Macklin much longer.<\/p>\n

Edie didn\u2019t want Zelda to leave. Apart from Lin \u2013 who rarely left the mysterious world of the stalls bar \u00ad\u2013 Zel was the only other girl working at the theatre. She was funny and direct and made Edie laugh with her stories. (\u201cAnd the old chook was walking around for two hours with that false nail sticking out of her nostril!\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no-one inebriated round here, Ken,\u201d said Norma. \u201cFreddie\u2019s just making the tea, if you\u2019d like a cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo-one inebriated!\u201d mouthed Zelda at Edie, jabbing her forefinger at Ken\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

\u201cTea!\u201d said Ken, as though it were an impossible dream. He looked unusually pale beneath his rouge. Or perhaps he was wearing a new, less flattering shade. \u201cNo, I must return to my lonely eyrie and dusty ledgers. Some ice, please, Norma.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shovelled some melting cubes into a tall glass and handed it to Ken, silently shaking her head.<\/p>\n

Glass in hand, Ken turned and looked at Zelda. \u201cIs that a new creation, Miss Lane?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelda smiled. \u201cSure is.\u201d She raised her arms and spun like a flamenco dancer. \u201cBodyMap attends a funeral. Do you like it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost original,\u201d said Ken, \u201cdon\u2019t you agree, Miss Denham?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d said Edie, who had never seen a dress like it in real life, although she was familiar with BodyMap\u2019s work from fashion magazines. Zelda\u2019s sculptural jersey dress imitated their eccentric, body-conscious silhouettes, although for the theatre, of course, she\u2019d had to stick to plain black.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a lovely boy, that David Holah,\u201d said Norma, who seemed to know \u2013 or know somebody who knew \u2013 almost everyone who was anyone in London.<\/p>\n

Zelda rolled her eyes.<\/p>\n

Ken ignored them both, as he usually did when following an idea of his own. \u201cAlthough not as elegant as your own ensemble,\u201d he said to Edie.<\/p>\n

She felt herself blushing as everyone turned to look at her. She shrugged and said nothing, although she knew Ken was right. Her sleeveless black poplin dress was<\/em> elegant. With its full skirt, fitted bodice and asymmetric slashed neckline, it was a modern take on a classic 1950s\u2019 frock. Cathy \u2013 who was a skilled dressmaker \u2013 had originally made it for Sarah, who had altered it for Edie to wear at the theatre. Sarah had taken in the bodice and \u2013 although Edie was taller \u2013 had taken up the skirt so that it sat several inches above her knees. It looked great with her Doc Martens and fishnets, although Ken probably didn\u2019t think they<\/em> were elegant.<\/p>\n

Zel came and put an arm around her, adopting an exuberant BodyMapish pose. \u201cYou implying I\u2019m not elegant, Ken?\u201d she said with a pout.<\/p>\n

Edie giggled, stood up a little straighter and tried to adopt the haughty, glacial expression of a 50s\u2019 model.<\/p>\n

Ken shook his head. \u201cI imply nothing, Miss Lane. Ladies\u2019 modes are not my forte.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, don\u2019t comment on them, then,\u201d Zel muttered as Ken turned and sashayed away.<\/p>\n

As he opened the door to the staircase, he turned to face them again. \u201cYou\u2019ll miss me when we\u2019re taken over by Allinson Cobb,\u201d he said before disappearing to his office.<\/p>\n

Norma sighed. \u201cPoor sod!\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s right. They won\u2019t keep him on, these new people, if we\u2019re sold. And they won\u2019t be as easy to work for \u2013 that\u2019s if they keep any<\/em> of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, cheer up!\u201d said Zelda. \u201cYou Poms just don\u2019t like change!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re as old as me and Norma,\u201d said Fred, handing her a cup with two slightly chipped custard creams nestling in the saucer, \u201cyou won\u2019t like change neither.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelda gave him a cheeky grin. \u201cThat\u2019s decades away, Fred. Right now I\u2019m embracing everything life offers. Especially the men. Maybe Allinson Cobb will send us a hunky new manager, eh Ede? One who likes women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edie nodded non-commitally.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I forgot. You have a boyfriend<\/em> now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a friend,\u201d said Edie.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould have fooled me,\u201d said Norma, patting her tight yellow curls with fingers that looked 20 years older than her face. She wore as many rings as David, although hers were gold. \u201cDo you kiss all your friends like that?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Girl reading: a portrait of Ellis Denham This is an extract from my second novel, which is a work in progress. After flunking her A-levels, Edie moves to London in 1984 to look for work. Through her friend Nick, she has found a job in a West End theatre. Most of the characters in this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":376,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-87","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/87\/revisions\/522"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felicityparsons.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}