Firebird

More about the book

This richly imagined novel tells the surprising story of two unlikely lovers from Bloomsbury: John Maynard Keynes, a distinguished economist, and Lydia Lopokova, an extroverted Russian dancer. As the third novel by prize-winning author Susan Sellers, an expert on Bloomsbury and Virginia Woolf, it weaves biography and fiction to explore the complex relationships of the Bloomsbury group. Set in winter 1921, the narrative begins with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes debuting a new production at London's Alhambra Theatre. Keynes, initially unimpressed by Lydia, finds himself moved by her performance despite his reservations about her talent and her marital status. Following the ballet's financial disaster, he invites her to stay at his Bloomsbury home. His friends, including Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Vanessa and Clive Bell, and Duncan Grant, are intrigued by this unexpected romance, questioning its longevity given Keynes's known homosexuality and Lydia's perceived lack of sophistication. As Keynes prioritizes Lydia over his commitments, his friends fear for his future, believing this relationship could lead to ruin. The novel vividly captures Lydia's transformative journey from Tsarist St Petersburg to Jazz Age London, celebrating an unexpected love story that is both true and stranger than fiction.