'Mackrell's enthralling biography restores Lydia Lopokova to her rightful position centre-stage' DAILY MAIL

'Superb ... Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds' GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW

'A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star' SPECTATOR

Born in 1891 in St Petersburg, Lydia Lopokova lived a long and remarkable life. Her vivacious personality and the sheer force of her charm propelled her to the top of Diaghilev's Ballet Russes. Through a combination of luck, determination and talent, Lydia became a star in Paris, a vaudeville favourite in America, the toast of Britain and then married the world-renowned economist, and formerly homosexual, John Maynard Keynes.

Lydia's story links ballet and the Bloomsbury group, war, revolution and the economic policies of the super-powers. She was an immensely captivating, eccentric and irreverent personality: a bolter, a true bohemian and, eventually, an utterly devoted wife.

Prizes

Short-listed for Sheridan Morley Prize for Best Theatre Biography 2009,Short-listed for Costa Biography Award 2008

Mackrell's enthralling biography restores Lydia Lopokova to her rightful position centre-stage * DAILY MAIL *
In this lovingly crafted biography, Judith Mackrell restores to life a colourful bohemian character... a warm memorial to an almost-forgotten star * OBSERVER *
Superb ... Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds * GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW *
Judith Mackrell has used her resources to rescue the ballerina from an undeserved obscurity * CONTEMPORARY REVIEW *
Mackrell captures the fizz of Lopokova's personality, her lovability, and makes her come alive. * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *
Thorough and absorbing * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *
Bloomsbury Ballerina is a compelling account of the extraordinary life and times of an unforgettable woman. Mackrell is to be congratulated * LITERARY REVIEW *
Mackrell shows us exactly what made Lopokova one the last century's "true originals". * SUNDAY TIMES *
Judith Mackrell ... is brilliant at making the reader see why Lopokova matters * GUARDIAN *
How shrewd and kind of Mackrell to extricate Lopokova from so many decades as the snubbed alien in Bloomsbury footnotes * NEW STATESMAN *
Mackrell's unfailingly vivacious and scholarly biography pays splendid tribute * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
She was, as Mackrell concludes, one of the 20th century's "true originals" and this narrative tells us exactly why * FINANCIAL TIMES *
Admirably researched ... enthralling * DANCING TIMES *
Judith Mackrell, in this masterly biography, shows us why we should remember her (Lopokova) ... writing as fine as one could hope to encounter * TLS *
A hugely entertaining and informative study of the Ballets Russes star * SPECTATOR *
Judith Mackrell has used her resources to rescue the ballerina from an undeserved obscurity * CONTEMPORARY REVIEW *
In this lovingly crafted biography, Judith Mackrell restores to life a colourful bohemian character... a warm memorial to an almost-forgotten star * OBSERVER *
Mackrell captures the fizz of Lopokova's personality, her lovability, and makes her come alive. -- Alison Light * LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS *
a superb new biography...Mackrell, with her insider's knowledge of ballet and theatre, lovingly recreates Lydia's many worlds * GAY & LESBIAN REVIEW *
Thorough and absorbing * GOOD BOOK GUIDE *

Judith Mackrell is a writer and Dance critic for the Guardian. She was the ghostwriter for Darcey Bussell's 'Life in Dance'. She lives in London with her husband and two sons.