A Chronology of 'Ballet Shoes' Quiz

Professor Matthew Brown is a fossil collector who lives with Sylvia, his great-niece, and Alice Gutheridge, her nanny (known as Nana throughout the book). His nickname is 'Gum', short for 'Great Uncle Matthew'. He injures his leg during an expedition and has to have it amputated, and decides to travel the world instead. His ship is wrecked after it hits an iceberg and he finds a baby girl on a lifebelt and takes her home with him, and formally adopts her when her parents cannot be found. Nana complains at first, as she had previously asked Gum not to bring any more fossils home, but changes her mind when she hears the baby cooing. Sylvia names the baby Pauline after St Paul.

Gum goes on another voyage the following year and has to go to hospital because his leg is playing up. He meets Boris, a Russian man who had fled Russia with his wife after the Revolution, but his wife died and he himself is dying. His baby daughter is in the children's ward and Gum adopts her, and Sylvia calls her Petrova after St Peter.

Nana tells Gum that she does not want any more babies in the house, but Gum has one more surprise a year later: he sends a third baby girl to the house, along with a pair of ballet slippers and a letter explaining that the baby is Posy, the daughter of a poor dancer who cannot keep her, and whose husband is dead. Gum is unable to accompany Posy as he is going on an expedition and is not sure when he is due back, but makes sure that Sylvia has enough money in the bank to last her for five years.

Six years after Gum left, the money he left Sylvia is beginning to run out, and Sylvia is worried about money, especially as Pauline and Petrova are at school and Posy will be starting soon. Nana suggests taking in boarders. They take in three sets of boarders: John Simpson, a rubber trader, and his wife; Dr Jakes and Dr Smith, a pair of academics who specialise in literature and maths respectively; and Theo Dane, a dance teacher. As Sylvia is an unqualified teacher, and Petrova is too clever for her to teach, Dr Jakes and Dr Smith offer to teach the girls for free.

Each of the boarders takes an interest in one girl in particular. Dr Jakes discovers Pauline's talent for reciting when Pauline is ill with a cold and Dr Jakes, who is also ill, invites her into her room, and they discuss books and Shakespeare. Petrova loves cars and is impressed by Mr Simpson's car, and he later starts a garage in London and lets her help out there. Finally, Theo believes Posy has great potential as a dancer after seeing her dance to her gramophone.

Pauline, Petrova and Posy take on the surname of 'Fossil' as Gum sends them some necklaces addressed to 'the little Fossils', and Pauline decides she wants Fossil to be her surname instead of Brown. Nana approves of this, as it means the girls all having the same 'P. Fossil' name tapes. After talking to Dr Jakes, Pauline comes up with the idea of the girls making a vow on their birthdays to put their name in the history books, as it is their very own.

Theo Dane suggests that the girls enrol at the Academy of Dance and Stage Training, where she works, not only because Pauline has a talent for reciting and Posy is a natural dancer, but because they can make money performing when they are older and have something to fall back on if Sylvia dies. Madame Fidolia, a Russian ballerina and the head of the Academy, has agreed to teach them for free. Sylvia is hesitant, but Nana and the doctors agree with the plan; Nana hopes it will make Petrova more ladylike, and the doctors support the idea because, even if the girls cannot dance, it will help them become more independent.

The Fossils meet Madame Fidolia and dance with some of the pupils to give her an idea of their ability levels. Madame is interested in Petrova as a fellow Russian, but Petrova sees herself as British and has the least aptitude for dancing. She finds the training and constant changes of clothing ridiculous, but also finds a kindred spirit in Mr Simpson, who has no interest in it either.

Pauline and Petrova play Tyltyl and Mytyl, the children of a woodcutter, in 'The Blue Bird' by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. Madame gathers the Academy pupils, parents and staff together to explain that Olga, the daughter of a Russian refugee family, is working as a nurse at the hospital that saved her life when she was a child. Madame had helped her by telling a great surgeon about her case, and Olga has asked for Madame to help the hospital too. The Academy are putting on a production of 'The Blue Bird' and as Pauline has been studying Tyltyl's part, she is chosen to play him; however, the girl who was going to play Mytyl is ill, so Petrova takes her place. Posy also has a minor role in the play as a dancer.

Pauline takes to the role naturally, but Petrova has trouble with it as she cannot act and finds it hard to imagine herself as the daughter of a poor woodcutter. Both Dr Jakes and Miss Catherine Jay, the head of acting at the Academy, coach her in the part and Petrova asks if she can wear costume at rehearsals to help her get into character. The performance is a success, with Petrova managing to remember her lines, and Sylvia buys them bluebird badges as a present.

Pauline needs a dress for auditions, but the girls have no money to buy one, so Mr Simpson lends them money against their necklaces, with the expectation that they will buy the necklaces back once they earn enough money. Pauline gets a black dress and goes to audition for the role of Alice in 'Alice in Wonderland' and one of the other girls auditioning, Winifred (who was originally going to play Mytyl), is desperate for the part as she needs the money. She is the oldest of six children and her father is recovering from surgery.

Winifred performs better than Pauline in the audition, as her dance is more complicated and Pauline's singing was off-key, but the producers choose Pauline because she has long blonde hair and looks the part. Winifred is upset as she needed the money, and Pauline feels guilty. She also has to apply for a licence as she is now twelve years old.

Playing Alice goes to Pauline's head and she begins to boss her sisters around and order them to fetch and carry, much to Petrova's annoyance. Winifred is Pauline's understudy and shares her dressing room, and Pauline tries to get Winifred to fetch and carry for her, but Nana tells her off. Pauline gets in trouble with the stage manager and Mr French, the theatre director, for repeatedly leaving her wrap lying around, and when she throws a temper tantrum at Mr French, he has Winifred play Alice the following night, with Pauline as her understudy. Pauline is upset, both at her own bad behaviour and because of losing the role, and apologises to Mr French the next day. Pauline subsequently makes enough money to buy back Posy and Petrova's necklaces.

The Simpsons, Nana, the Fossils and Cook all go on holiday, and when they get back, Sylvia receives a letter from Miss Jay saying that a theatre are putting on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and want Pauline to try out for the role of Pease-blossom, a fairy, and Petrova for the fairy ballet. Nana, Cook, Sylvia and Mrs Simpson rally round to make dresses for the audition. Mr French is at the audition and tells Pauline that she does not need to recite as the management have decided she is going to be Pease-blossom after seeing her as Alice. Nobody has turned up to audition for the part of another fairy, Mustard-seed, so Pauline asks if Petrova can play her, as Petrova is dark and looks the part.

Petrova manages to get through her audition with Pauline's help, and is chosen to be Mustard-seed, but then Winifred arrives and the girls discover that she was due to audition for Mustard-seed, but was delayed as her mother only just got the letter. Petrova has to break the bad news to her that she has the part instead, and Nana offers to iron one of Pauline's dresses for Winifred so that she can audition for the fairy ballet. Rehearsals go badly for Petrova; she only has one line to say, 'And I', but repeatedly gets the line wrong as it is supposed to be spoken in a very specific way. The stage manager initially thinks she is joking around. Dr Jakes helps her practice and accompanies the girls to the theatre, so she can watch the dress rehearsals.

Pauline hears that Donald Houghton, who played Oberon in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', is appearing in a production of 'Richard the Third' and decides that she and Petrova should write to him and ask if they can play the Princes in the Tower. He invites both girls into his dressing room and has them recite speeches from Shakespeare, and promises to see what he can do. Petrova has trouble sleeping, so she reads Richard, the Duke of York's part and discovers that it is beyond her abilities. While she is out of bed, she runs into Sylvia, who reveals that she is planning to sell the flat as she needs the money. Gum's money has run out and nobody knows where he is. Petrova is upset at the thought of the boarders leaving and cries herself to sleep.

The producer of 'Richard the Third' agrees to take Pauline on as Edward, but not Petrova, much to Petrova's relief. Instead, she gets a non-speaking role as a page, which she is happy about as she will still earn money. Dr Jakes and Sylvia collect reviews of the play, but are concerned that Pauline will become conscious of her looks, so they leave out comments about her looks. Towards the end of the play's run, Pauline is invited for a screen test for a film about King Charles II, with the possibility of her playing his sister Henrietta.

In August, Cook is away and the Fossils have no work commitments, so they have to help Clara (the maid), Nana and Sylvia around the house. Posy and Petrova are miserable, so Pauline suggests taking money out of her savings to pay for a holiday for them and Sylvia. They buy camping equipment and camp near where the doctors are staying for their holiday in Kent, and near the end of the holiday, Sylvia receives a message from Nana that Pauline will be playing Henrietta. Acting in front of the camera is a new experience for Pauline and she finds it hard, but has a breakthrough when she reacts to the lead actor crying, and Mr Sholsky, the director, tells her to stop holding back.

Pauline plays Cinderella in a pantomime, while Petrova is part of a group of girls playing jumping beans, which she hates because she is under constant supervision. When 'Charles in Exile' comes out in cinemas, Nana takes Pauline and Petrova to see it while Posy is at the ballet with Sylvia, and when they come out, people recognise Pauline and ask for her autograph. Pauline is overwhelmed, so Nana asks a policeman to put them into a taxi. Pauline dreams about pens and paper that night.

While Pauline and Petrova are the focus for most of the book due to their acting work, Posy has less screentime as she has private classes with Madame, due to being a child prodigy. She refuses to learn with anyone else or attend other classes, as they do exercises that Madame hasn't taught her. Madame has a stroke and has to go to Switzerland for health reasons, and Posy is upset when she finds out - not because she is upset about Madame, but because it means having to interrupt her training. Both Nana and Sylvia are disgusted at her selfishness; however, Pauline and Petrova are more sympathetic as Posy is now almost old enough to have a licence, and she is not aware of how severe Madame's illness actually is.

Posy attends Theo's classes, but distracts the other girls by doing comedic impressions of other people while dancing, a talent she shows off earlier during the first holiday. The doctors cannot teach her as they are too busy coaching Pauline and Petrova for upcoming exams, so Sylvia has to teach her. Theo tells Pauline about Posy's behaviour and Pauline offers to buy tickets for someone to take her to the Marmaro Ballet performing 'Petroushka' if Posy behaves herself in class. Posy is excited as Monsieur Manoff, a famous Czech dancer, will be playing Petroushka. Sylvia takes Posy while Pauline and Petrova are watching 'Charles the Exile', and Posy wakes Pauline up to tell her that she wants to study under Manoff.

Posy goes missing the next day and nobody knows where she is, until she returns and tells the other girls that she has been at the theatre. Manoff has been rehearsing there with the ballet and when he comes down, Posy says she wants him to see her dance, so he gives her directions and she follows them. He is impressed with her skill and wants to train her in Czechoslovakia, and Posy assumes that Sylvia can arrange it somehow, but Petrova is worried that Sylvia might not be able to afford it. Mr Reubens, an American agent, has come to ask if Pauline will go to Hollywood with him, as an American studio is interested in her. Sylvia gives her agreement and Pauline offers to use the money to pay for Posy and Nana to go to Czechoslovakia.

Pauline is going to go to Hollywood with Sylvia, while Posy and Nana are going to Czechoslovakia, and Petrova is at a loose end as she does not want to dance or act for a living. Posy suggests that Petrova becomes a pilot instead, and Pauline adds that Petrova can travel the world and make history exploring. Pauline and Posy decide to change their birthday vow to make it about helping Petrova achieve fame and put the Fossil name in the history books. Just then, Gum arrives, and does not recognise the girls until they remind him that they were the babies he collected.

Pauline, Posy and Petrova tell Gum the story of their lives, and how Posy is going to be a dancer and Pauline an actress, and that Petrova likes flying and cars. Gum is pleased that Petrova wants to learn to fly, and suggests that Cook and Clara come with them to look after the house, as Sylvia will be in America and Nana in Czechoslovakia. He plans to buy a house near an aerodrome so Petrova can learn. (If you've read 'Curtain Up', which is set during the Second World War and also features the Academy - but has more of a focus on acting - you'll know that Petrova does indeed become a pilot.)