Invitation to the waltz cover

Invitation to the waltz

by Rosamond Lehmann

Set during the interwar period of the twentieth century in England. Olivia Curtis wakes to her seventeenth birthday ; her presents: a roll of flame-coloured silk for her first evening dress ; a diary for her inmost thoughts ; a china ornament ; a ten shilling note. Safe, still, within the bosom of a family at once lovingly familiar yet curiously remote, she stands poised on the brink of womanhood ; anticipating her first dance with tremulous uncertainty and excitement -- the greatest, yet most terrifying event in her restricted social life. For her pretty, poised elder sister Kate, the dance will be a triumph, but for Olivia, shy and awkward, what will it be?

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?