When a small child . . . I thought that success spelled happiness. I was wrong,' said Anna Pavlova, the greatest ballerina of her time. The same proves true for Sophie, Prue and Vera, dancers whose lives are destined to intertwine with fateful and sometimes tragic consequences. Sophie, born into ballet royalty, wants only to emulate the mother she has never known, a rising star who died young. Her unlikely best friend Prue is ruled by her heart, not her head, which propels her onto a disastrous course of professional and emotional self-sabotage. And Vera, hardened by hatred, longs to escape the Bolshoi and her KGB minders for a life of fame and fortune in the West. All three women will achieve their heart's desire, but not the happiness they expected. As their relationships are tested to the limits by rivalry, jealousy and betrayal, they must question their goals and find a truer and even more difficult path to fulfilment, a journey which spans 25 years and takes them from reckless youth to hard-won wisdom.
