Ballet Shoes

The middle Fossil sister is Petrova, whose father Gum meets while staying in a hospital: “This man had left Russia during the revolution, and he and his wife had tried to train themselves to earn a living. They had not been a success as wage earners, and the wife became ill and died, leaving a small baby” (9). The man dies soon after, and when Gum hears the nurses debating about whether to take the baby to an orphanage, he steps up and adopts her. Petrova is “too pale and too thin, but she [has] deep-set brown eyes, and hair the color of a jay’s wing” (13). Her features and Russian name stand out to Madame Fidolia, who tries to connect with her over being Russian. However, Petrova feels British, not Russian, so she never quite bonds with Madame in the way she hopes.

Petrova is the least interested in the arts. Nana complains that she’s “always messing about with the works of clocks and that just like a boy; never plays with dolls, and takes no more interest in her clothes than a scarecrow” (39). Nana hopes that dancing and acting lessons will make Petrova less boyish, but they don’t. Instead, Petrova finds comfort working in a garage and wearing jeans.

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson form a special bond with Petrova and make time for her interests on Sunday. The excursions they take are some of Petrova’s favorite memories, and she doesn’t tell her sisters about them. In fact, Petrova’s closed-off nature makes it difficult for Sylvia to tell if the girl is really happy. Ultimately, Petrova has a “happy ending” since she gets to live with Gum near an aerodrome, where she’ll study to fly a plane one day.

Even though Nana insists that Gum must not collect any more babies, he can’t resist sending them Posy. In the letter he sends with her, he writes, “This is the little daughter of a dancer. The father has just died, and the poor young mother has no time for babies, so I said I would have her” (10). Another thing that arrives with Posy is a pair of ballet shoes from her birth mother.

Posy looks entirely different from her sisters and, at two, “suddenly surprise[s] everybody by becoming red-headed” (13). She constantly tries out new moves with her feet, and even at a young age, she can balance on her tiptoes. She isn’t as good in her book lessons as Pauline and Petrova but is an impeccable dancer. Madame Fidolia picks her out to study under her, giving the girl private lessons.

While the other two start to perform in plays, “Posy live[s] for nothing but her dancing classes” (144). Even on vacation, she and the others practice dancing. She’s quite determined when she knows something will advance her in her training. When she sees Manoff of Czechoslovakia dance, she demands that he see her dance. After giving Posy some instruction, he insists that she train with him. In the end, she and Nana move to Czechoslovakia so that Posy can study under him.

Gum’s great niece Sylvia is the Fossil sisters’ adoptive mother. When they’re trying to decide on a title for her, “she never [is] called Guardian, as it [is] too long and severe, but they [compromise] on Garnie, which satisfie[s] everybody” (14). After Sylvia’s father died, she grew up in Gum’s house and for years looked after his fossil collection. She adjusts to motherhood well, with the help of her own nurse from childhood, Nana.

Sylvia is the primary reminder to readers of the reality of the family’s financial situation. She’s careful to keep this worry to herself, but “it [is] such a bad one it [keeps] her awake at nights” (35). At first, Nana is the one who notices that Sylvia’s hair is getting grayer from the stress of it all, but soon the girls also notice that something is wrong. She hates admitting when she’s worried and also hates to ask for help. However, she eventually learns that everyone is better off if she lets others assist her, even Pauline when she offers her earnings to go toward the household.

The stern but kind nurse that helped raise Sylvia, Nana now helps Sylvia raise the Fossil sisters. She’s the one person whom Sylvia confides in about the family’s financial struggles. When she does, she never can “remember that though she had been Sylvia’s nurse, her child [is] now a grown up woman. […] ‘There, there, dear […] Don’t you fuss, there’s a way round everything if you look for it’” (18). Even though Nana can be harsh at times, she has a soft and giving heart.

Nana sacrifices as much as any of the others for the Fossil sisters. She devotes her time, money, and energy to making sure that all three girls are well cared for, in addition to comforting Sylvia. She tends to the girls’ nurseries when they’re babies and takes them to classes and auditions when they’re older. At the novel’s end, she travels with Posy to Czechoslovakia.

The boarders Mr. and Mrs. Simpson come to live in the Fossil sisters’ home. From the moment Petrova greets him at the door, the two share a special connection. He arrives in a car that the girl admires, which begins their friendship based on their shared love of machines.

Mr. Simpson lets Petrova spend Sundays at his garage with him, and he and his wife throw her a beautiful birthday picnic. He drives the girls and Nana several times to their appointments so that they don’t have to walk. Arguably one of the kindest things he does for the girls is buying their necklaces so that they can purchase a new dress. He tells them, “I will advance you five pounds on those necklaces: at the rate of thirty shillings each for Pauline’s and Posy’s, and two pounds for Petrova’s because pearls are more expensive” (113). Pauline uses her earnings to repay him for the necklaces gradually. This allows the girls to have the funds for a dress without sacrificing their treasured necklaces.

Another influential person in the Fossil sisters’ lives is Dr. Jakes. She and Dr. Smith are retired professors who come to live with them as boarders. When Pauline and Dr. Jakes are both home sick with a cold, Pauline goes into her room and discovers that “the whole walls [are] covered in books” (29). Dr. Jakes is exceptionally well-read and proves to be an incredible tutor in Shakespeare. She helps both Pauline and Petrova as they memorize monologues for auditions.

When the girls start getting cast in shows, Dr. Jakes takes them to the theater, leaving “Nana free for Posy, and she [] enjoy[s] the rehearsals, since it [is] her beloved Shakespeare, and she [can] help the children better if she hear[s] what [is] expected of them” (167). She helps Petrova when she struggles with her lines and has exciting conversations with Pauline about Shakespeare. By the end of the book, she’s a staple in the young girls’ lives.

The head of the performing arts academy (where Miss Theo Dane, another boarder, teaches) is Madame Fidolia. Before she ran the school, “Madame had been a great dancer many years before […] She had made a big name for herself before the War, not only in Russia, but all over the world” (46). She always dreamed of running her school with the same level of rigor and discipline as she had when she trained, but she found that it was too expensive and that the level of talent she sought was too rare.

Madame Fidolia has “black hair parted in the middle and drawn down tight into a small bun on her neck” (46). She asks that all her students curtsy when they greet her, and upon seeing Posy’s elegant curtsy, she takes an immediate liking to her. She becomes a mentor figure to her and trains her personally for several years. At the novel’s end, she becomes ill and is unable to continue training Posy.