The Ballroom cover art

The Ballroom

Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Ballroom

By: Anna Hope
Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

By the acclaimed author of WAKE:

Where love is your only escape ....

1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors,
where men and women are kept apart
by high walls and barred windows,
there is a ballroom vast and beautiful.
For one bright evening every week
they come together
and dance.
When John and Ella meet
It is a dance that will change
two lives forever.

Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM is a tale of unlikely love and dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which.

Biographical Fiction Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Gothic Historical Horror Romance

Critic Reviews

Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read
A British version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Moving. Fascinating
An unsentimental and affecting story
Compelling, elegant and insightful.
In this deeply moving book, Hope reminds us that behind everyone’s facade lies something waiting to be rent free
An original, brilliant, evocative novel
A heartbreaking story of how love can flourish in the darkest of times
Part social commentary, part mystery and part dangerous liaison, this poignant story casts an unflinching gaze at the historic treatment of mental health disorders.
Such a magnificent setting definitely demands a story that delivers, all guns blazing. It does, and then some . . . Fiction at it’s finest.
Beautiful
All stars
Most relevant
Great story. Cool to see the different perspectives involved. Sad how much reality is seen in this historical fiction. The narrator did a great job too.

phenomenal

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.