Arabesque by M G da Mota | Book Spotlight & Guest Post
Featuring the haunting ballet-inspired novel by M G da Mota • A blog tour with #GoddessFishPromotions
What happens when lives intertwine across decades, countries, and stages? Arabesque by M G da Mota invites readers into a layered, emotionally charged story set against the haunting beauty of ballet. If you enjoy literary fiction with historical depth, psychological nuance, and a touch of mystery, you won’t want to miss this one.
Quick Summary:
In Arabesque, a woman plants a tree in the dead of night. A dancer in East Germany plots escape. A modern principal ballerina finds passion on and off the stage. And a woman in a rehab center believes she’s been robbed of her one true love. As their stories unfold—set in Portugal, Germany, and the UK—the lines between obsession, memory, and reality blur. With its unique structure and lyrical prose, this novel reads like a ballet performance: graceful, deliberate, and emotionally resonant.
Book Details
Arabesque By M G da Mota
Published by Independently Published on December 6, 2024
Genres: Drama, Historical Fiction, Psychological
Formats: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 386
Arabesque is a step in classic ballet, an appropriate title for a novel narrating the beauty of ballet and the artistry and athleticism involved; with the dancers’ stories depicting everything a romantic ballet should love, passion, obsession, deception, courage, determination, happiness, drama, fun. And sadness.
A woman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beech sapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?
A ballet dancer in 1960s East Germany longs to escape with his young daughter—but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?
In 2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with two young children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principal dancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers to their private lives.
Against the background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her story from a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional, she begins believing Ivone robbed her of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in a garden...What connects all these people and their stories?
You’ll be the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.
Excerpt from Arabesque
Prologue
Southeast England, late November 1998
She looks out of the window. Dark night. Black but clear. Twinkling dots punctuate the raven velvet of the sky...
Darkness is the important thing. No moon. New moon. Why do people refer to a new moon when there is no moon?
Tonight is new moon. An ideal night. She opens the window quietly and glances at the houses to her right, then to her left. Like hers, they are all immersed in silent darkness...
Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.
Where to Find Arabesque
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About M G da Mota
M G da Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen name for fiction. She is a Portuguese-British novelist with a love for classical music, ballet and opera. Under her real name she also writes reviews of live concerts, CDs, DVDs and books for two classical music magazines on the web: MusicWeb International and Seen and Heard International. She is a member of the UK Society of Authors, speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with her husband. Her website, called flowingprose.com, contains photos and information.
Guest Post by the Author of Arabesque
Background of the Book
The background of this novel, ARABESQUE, is classic ballet. I love ballet. It’s an art I greatly admire and I often visit performances. I had wanted to write a novel structured like a ballet for a long time but it only came to exist when I found inspiration in the exquisitely beautiful dancing of some of the London Royal Ballet principals (as the name indicates, the dancers that dance the lead or principal roles). Watching a variety of celebrated ballets and the manner in which these dancers interpreted and performed them live on stage was a true inspiration and gradually the story began taking shape in my mind.
As background to all my novels, I like to use my experience of different countries, especially the ones that I know well. While I live in the UK, I was born and grew up in Portugal, I’ve completed my degree in Portugal too and, one year after finishing it, I went to Germany where I lived and worked for 10 years. So, I always use my experience of growing up in Portugal and of living in Germany in my novels—be it as locations for part or most of the plot or reflected in the characters, meaning that they may come from those countries or they lived there for a certain period of time.
In ARABESQUE the two lead characters and principals of the Royal Ballet follow this pattern: Karsten is German and Ivone is Portuguese but naturally not all characters are from these countries. Some also important characters are British and live in the UK. Additionally, some chapters are located in Germany. I was living in West Germany at the time of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, so I witness it firsthand. I wanted to incorporate in the story East Germans’ desire for freedom and the reasons why so many attempted to flee the country, risking their lives. Hence Amadeus’s story in the novel.
The background of this book has also to do with paying tributes to people I care about and people I admire, as well as being a love declaration to ballet. Ballet is an art of the present. It really only lives up to expectations when it’s performed live on a stage. This meant that most of the narrative was written in the present tense to give it the immediacy and impact of a live ballet performance.
Finally, a dear friend of mine who died of cancer in 2021 passionately loved ballet. We often visited performances together and before she died, I promised her I would write a novel structured as a ballet and about ballet, dedicated to her. I kept my promise, sadly in memoriam, but it was imperative for me to do it. I also decided to dedicate the novel to the two Royal Ballet dancers whose exquisitely beautiful dancing inspired the story.
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Full Tour Schedule
June 10: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
June 12: Karen J. Mossman - World of Stories
June 17: Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
June 19: Always Reading
June 24: Gina Rae Mitchell
June 26: Read Your Writes Book Reviews
July 8: FUONLYKNEW
July 10: Guatemala Paula Loves to Read
July 15: Ascroft, eh?
July 17: The Faerie Review
July 22: Beyond Romance
July 24: Locks, Hooks and Books
July 29: Fabulous and Brunette
July 31: The Book Connection
August 5: The Avid Reader
August 7: TTC Books and more - review only
August 12: Wendi Zwaduk - Romance to Make Your Heart Race
August 14: A Wonderful World of Words
August 19: Sapphyria's Books
August 21: Ellwyn's Blog
August 26: Country Mamas With Kids - review only
August 28: Westveil Publishing
September 2: Our Town Book Reviews - review only
September 4: Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'
September 9: Sandra's Book Club
September 11: It's Raining Books
September 16: Long and Short Reviews
September 18: Dawn's Reading Nook
September 23: Welcome to My World of Dreams
September 25: travel the ages
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Final Thoughts on Arabesque by M G da Mota
Arabesque by M G da Mota is a haunting and beautifully structured novel that reads like a ballet performance—precise, emotional, and deeply human. Spanning decades and countries, this historical psychological drama weaves together richly drawn characters, Cold War tension, and the world of ballet in a story that lingers long after the final page.
If you enjoy ballet literary fiction, character-driven narratives, or books that explore obsession, memory, and identity, Arabesque offers a unique reading experience. It’s not just a spotlight on the beauty of performance—it's a meditation on what drives us, what haunts us, and how art can both inspire and destroy.
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[…] I previously featured a guest post from MG da Mota. Click here to read her explanation of the “Background of the Book.” […]
[…] Arabesque by M G da Mota is a haunting and beautifully structured piece. […]
[…] If you’ve read Arabesque by M.G. da Mota (or are curious about it), this novel pairs beautifully with it—both are emotionally rich and anchored in beautifully drawn characters. You can read my Arabesque review HERE. […]
This looks like a very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.
Great excerpt and giveaway. 🙂
The book sounds very intriguing. Love the cover.
Sounds like a great read.
Sounds like a good read.
[…] READ HERE […]
Thank you so much for featuring ARABESQUE today.