Book Extract: The Starling Dance by Lucy Elena

Published November 17, 2025 | By Laura

I’m pleased to be welcoming Lucy Elena to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, The Starling Dance.

In a sweltering Roman summer, Laure is trying to start a new life. But can she manage in a city where walls have ears, trees have eyes and even the birds are acting strangely?

It’s been exactly one year since the shit hit the fan and Laure’s anxiety exploded into a full-blown burn out. In search of a new start she’s moved to Rome – pasta, Aperol and sunshine should make everything better, right?

But with her 30s around the corner, la bella vita isn’t going to plan.

Her boyfriend, the dreamy Davide, has disappeared (Either Laure’s been ghosted or he’s accidentally fallen off a cliff – hopefully)
She wants to murder her neighbours: their arguments are keeping her up all night.

In her local café, Laure meets a handsome stranger and the sparks fly, that is until she finds herself caught in a big lie.

‘Hmmm, it’s not ideal,’ says her best friend Eva, as she puffs on a spliff in the bathtub.

Just as things are heating up, a talking tree enters the fray (as if this Roman summer wasn’t weird enough, just ask the birds).

That tree is Viviano, a dynamic and adventurous street performer who poses around the Eternal City dressed as a tree, well, sometimes a cat too and sometimes a ripe tomato. He could be thriving in life but something is holding him back. One thing is certain though: he wants to meet Laure.

Will Laure find her path? Will she accidentally put pineapple on a pizza? And is there a real love story to be found in the surreal swirls of the Italian capital?

The Starling Dance is a love story full of quirk, humour and heart-warming characters, each trying to overcome their personal obstacles and demons to give themselves a chance at life and love.

Lucy Elena is a journalist who has worked across Europe and Latin America. The Starling Dance is her debut novel. It was initially dreamt up as a film while Lucy was working in Rome and became interested in the street artists she passed every day on her way to work, eventually getting to know them. The artsy film of her imagination never materialised but The Starling Dance was born in the form of a book, with a big dose of love, fun and healing thrown in for good measure.

*****

Lucy Elena has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy it.

*****beginning of extract*****

In this extract our main male character, street performer Viviano, has come to meet his friends at Rome’s picturesque Gianicolo Hil. It’s a chance for the reader to get to know Viviano better and see him in a more relaxed environment, on days when his mental health challenges are not flaring up. Even in the company of his friends, Laure – Viviano’s love interest, is never far from his mind. We also learn a bit more about Viviano’s best friend Mickey, a migrant from Senegal.

Viviano leapt high above the city skyline and landed on the thin elastic band. Up and down he bounced until the rush of adrenaline had worn off and a steady balance returned.

The scent of pine perfumed the air and, in the distance, Rome’s jigsaw of buildings stretched for miles, shrouded in a golden pink light.

Viviano had spent the day dressed as a caramel-coloured cat, attaching his slackline between buildings and balancing for hours in various feline poses. Occasionally, he performed a trick or purred at passers-by – Leonardo the cat was always a crowd pleaser.

But work was over now. With three friends – Mickey, Juan Pablo and Elena – he had ventured up to the top of the Gianicolo Hill, a viewpoint over the whole city.

As was customary, they had tied the slackline daringly high between two large parasol pines. The concentration needed to maintain balance challenged Viviano, forcing his mind to focus. Today he was working on a backflip.

Although he had discarded the main cat-like features of the costume, the usual traces of makeup remained smudged down his cheeks, and his tanned skin had darkened in the beating sun.

The Gianicolo was their favourite spot for summer evenings. With a stash of beers and a good playlist, they would stay for hours, long after the stars appeared and the city gazers had wandered home. Occasionally, their night ended with a forbidden swim in the Acqua Paola Fountain, just a little further down. Under the ghostly lighting, its waters shone like an azure lagoon, and they could never resist taking a dip.

Once again, Viviano bounced high into the air and held out his arms to steady the landing.

‘You know, I miss my neighbourhood sometimes,’ said Mickey, who was perched on a tree branch. Cautiously, he placed a foot onto the slackline.

Elena and Juan Pablo, or ‘JuanPa’ as they called him, observed the pair from the safety of the ground, beers in hand.

‘In my hometown, in Senegal, we could count on each other for everything. We were a real community.’ Mickey let go of a branch, transferring his weight fully to the slackline. ‘I feel completely left out of that here. People look at me like I don’t belong to anything.’ Sparring with the springy blue band, Mickey wobbled as he sought an equilibrium in the sky. The huge sunglasses perched on the tip of his nose made the balancing act more difficult. ‘I’m not ashamed of my country and I don’t want to be,’ he said. ‘You know, every time I meet someone new, I tell them something positive about Senegal, something they didn’t know before, to give them a new perspective.’ With baby steps, he tiptoed across the strip. The sunnies slanted dangerously to the right.

‘That’s what you did the first time we met. You told me about the pink lake and the surfing spots,’ Viviano said.

‘I know, but, Viv, you were something else!’ Mickey said with a groan. ‘You kept wanting to know more and more, and it was exhausting! In the end, I ran out of things to tell you. I had to invent unsettling “facts” so you wouldn’t ask a follow up …’ Finally stable, Mickey glided across the slackline towards Viviano, and with a grin, lowered the sunglasses to peer at his friend. ‘… which completely defeated the purpose of what I was trying to do.’

‘Yes,’ Viviano said, frowning. ‘I remember. I was surprised when your beautiful tour of Senegal took a dark and frankly disturbing turn. You dick.’ He dug his feet into the rope and Mickey swayed precariously.

‘Ha,’ said Mickey. ‘That’s the thing about coming from a country that people don’t know too much about. You can say anything you want and everyone just nods and smiles politely.’

He flashed pearly whites at Viviano who rolled his eyes.

‘Anyway, I’m glad I was persistent,’ Viviano said. ‘Because if I hadn’t been, you would never have introduced me to all that music.’

‘Good point,’ Mickey replied. ‘Let’s get a tune on now. Ragazzi, guys, choose something from my playlist.’

He waved down to JuanPa and Elena who were eating pizza and soaking up the last light of the day. With a lazy nod, JuanPa reached for Mickey’s phone.

A melody picked on the strings of an electric guitar began to weave through the warm evening air. Soon, it was accompanied by the beat of an African drum and a saxophonist’s riff. In silence, the group listened as a hoarse voice sang poetry in a language only Mickey could understand.

‘OK, I’m going for the flip,’ announced Viviano, inspired by the music.

‘You’ve got this,’ said Mickey, jumping from the slackline and joining JuanPa and Elena on the ground. In unison, they stared up at Viviano.

Listening to the beat and trying to channel his inner cat, Viviano bounced on the slackline, each time a little higher, building momentum. He was nervous. With every jump, thoughts flashed through his mind: a scene from the day, a scrap of overheard conversation which echoed over and over. Faces from the streets merged into one and noisy chatter clouded his brain. Somewhere, something dark was lurking and his body faltered.

Concentrate! he thought.

Below, everyone held their breath.

Upping the stakes, Viviano bounced higher than ever before, trying to shock himself into a state of calm.

Bounce … bounce …. bounce ….. The landings became further apart.

On the fourth jump, her face appeared. It floated past him and their eyes met, just for a moment. On the fifth, he saw and heard nothing at all.

*****end of extract*****

About Lucy Elena –

Lucy Elena is a Londoner with a love of languages and exploring new different cultures.

For most of her career she has been a journalist reporting across Europe and Latin America. But she has also experimented with career forays into pasta making (yes, like an Italian nonna) and teaching.

Lucy has always loved dreaming up and telling stories and The Starling Dance is her debut novel. When not writing or working, Lucy enjoys spending time with friends and family, trying out new foods and pretending she can play the ukulele.

Say hello to Lucy Elena via Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.

The Starling Dance was released in August 2025. Click to buy on Amazon UK and Amazon US.