This richly imagined novel tells the surprising story of two of Bloomsbury's most unlikely lovers - John Maynard Keynes, the distinguished economist, and the extrovert Russian dancer Lydia Lopokova. Firebird is the third novel of prize-winning author Susan Sellers, who is also an expert on Bloomsbury and the writing of Virginia Woolf. / Weaving biography and fiction, Firebird explores the tangle of Bloomsbury's bohemian relationships as lifestyles are challenged and allegiances shift following Lydia's explosive arrival. / It is the winter of 1921 and Diaghilev's Ballets Russes launch a flamboyant new production at London's Alhambra Theatre. Maynard Keynes is in the audience, though he expects little from the evening. Despite Lydia's many triumphs, including the title role in Stravinsky's Firebird, Maynard's mind is made up - he considers her 'a rotten dancer'. Besides, Lydia has at least one husband in tow and Maynard has only ever loved men.

Susan Sellers is Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of St Andrews. Her first Bloomsbury-inspired novel, Vanessa and Virginia, was an editor's pick for The New York Times and has been translated into sixteen languages.