Please welcome the delightful Marie Laval onto the blog. Hi Marie, it’s lovely to have you here. Explain about The Ouled Nail Dancers of Algeria, I’ve never come across them before.

THE OULED NAIL DANCERS OF ALGERIA

You may wonder why I’m writing a post about Algeria’s infamous Ouled Nail dancers when I am supposed to be promoting THE DREAM CATCHER, my historical romance set in Scotland which was recently released by Áccent Press. North Africa is after all a long way from Scotland…

Well, here is why. THE DREAM CATCHER, the first novel in my DANCING FOR THE DEVIL trilogy, features Rose Saintclair, a feisty and unconventional heroine born and brought up in Bou Saada, and this was where many dancers from the Berber tribe Ouled Nail lived and worked.

The Ouled Nail were made famous by painters such as Etienne Dinet, who settled in Bou Saada in the late nineteenth century and who, like so many other visitors to North Africa, was fascinated by them. The Ouled Nails were trained since their girlhood in the art of dancing and left their villages to earn a living in market towns. They usually returned home after ten to fifteen years, when they had saved enough money to settled down and get married.

Unlike most women in Algeria, they were always unveiled and wore heavy make up. Their eyes were lined with kohl, their hair was braided on both sides of the face, adorned by elaborate headdresses. Their costume featured voluminous and colourful skirts, lots of necklaces, charms and bracelets. These bracelets often had studs and spikes which the girls used to defend themselves against the unwelcome attentions of overexcited spectators.

The Ouled Nail literally wore their wealth on their person, usually in their long necklaces, sawn into their skirts and shawls, or on their headdress. This made them easy preys to unscrupulous thugs and many were attacked and robbed.

The girls usually danced in pairs. Their style has been described as ‘earthy’, and it was often the case that after several dances in costume, the dancers would retire behind a screen, and then reappear completely nude, except for headdress and jewellery, to continue their performance.

Ted Shawn, the famous American dancer and choreographer, saw the Ouled Nail in the early 1900’s and is quoted to have said that their dancing could not be called suggestive ‘because it left nothing to the imagination’.

Rose Saintclair, THE DREAM CATCHER’s unconventional heroine, learnt the art of dancing like a Ouled Nail from a childhood friend. However now she is married to Cameron McRae, one of Scotland’s richest landowners, she has to forget all about that most unsuitable skill…Or does she?

THE DREAM CATCHER

Can her love heal his haunted heart?

Cape Wrath, Scotland, November 1847.

Bruce McGunn is a man as brutal and unforgiving as his land in the far North of Scotland. Discharged from the army where he was known as the claymore devil, haunted by the spectres of his fallen comrades and convinced he is going mad, he is running out of time to save his estate from the machinations of Cameron McRae, heir to the McGunn’s ancestral enemies. When the clipper carrying McRae’s new bride is caught in a violent storm and docks at Wrath harbour, Bruce decides to revert to the old ways and hold the clipper and the woman to ransom. However, far from the spoilt heiress he expected, Rose is genuine, funny and vulnerable – a ray of sunshine in the long, harsh winter that has become his life.

But Rose is determined to escape Wrath and its proud master – the man she calls McGlum.

DREAM CATCHER is the first of the DANCING FOR THE DEVIL trilogy and is followed by BLUE BONNETS and SWORD DANCE.

It is available both as an ebook and paperback from:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Catcher-Dancing-Devil-Book-ebook-y/dp/B017D73N0Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1449865230&sr=1-3&keywords=marie+laval

 And here’s a little about our featured author:

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie has lived in the beautiful Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England, for the past few years. She works full-time as a modern languages teacher and when she isn’t busy looking after her family and preparing lessons, she loves dreaming up romantic stories.

ANGEL HEART, her debut historical romance, has been re-released by Áccent Press, together with award-winning THE LION’S EMBRACE.

If you’d like to find out about The Lion’s Embrace, a novel set in North Africa and which features Rose’s brother, Lucas Saintclair, here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lions-Embrace-Marie-Laval-ebook/dp/B013GSVJJI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr

Marie also writes contemporary romance with A SPELL IN PROVENCE, which was published earlier in 2015. You can find more about her novels at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00A03UV3I/ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1?ie=UTF8&text=Marie+Laval&search-alias=digital-text&field-author=Marie+Laval&sort=relevancerank

at:

https://www.facebook.com/marie.laval.9?fref=ts

and:

http://marielaval.blogspot.co.uk/

 Thanks so much for coming on, Marie. The Ouled Nail Dancers are fascinating and your books sound fabulous. The best of luck with them!