After the miserable story I've mentioned above, I felt I needed something more comforting, so I turned to 'Ballet Shoes'. According to the pencilled inscription at the front, I've had it since I was at least 14.
I enjoyed the story even more than usual, as my daughters have both learned ballet and appeared in a few local performances, so some of the technical terms which would have meant nothing to me at the time I can now understand.
Just one small thing jarred, that I don't think I've noticed previously. There are a couple of handwritten documents included in the book, and one is dated 1931, the other 1932 - maybe I've misread it, but I'm pretty certain that these documents were supposed to have been written within a couple of weeks of each other! My edition dates from the 1970s, so I don't know if it's a mistake that's always been there, or something that has crept in over the years.
The illustrations are by Ruth Gervais, who, according to Google was her sister. I recognise her illustrations from some of Enid's books - it's a small world.
I've just seen that the original BBC version is available on DVD - guess what I'll be asking Father Christmas to get me this year.