A LOVE of dance led West Dorset author Rosanna Ley to write her latest novel.

And it's West Bay resident Rosanna's particular interest in the rumba that has very much inspired the passion, frenetic pace and darkness of Last Dance in Havana.

It tells the story of Grace, living in Bristol in 2012, alongside that of Elisa in Cuba in 1958 who was 16 years old when she danced the rumba with a man named Duardo.

Rosanna travelled to Cuba to carry out research for the Havana-set portion of the book and also walked the streets of Bristol, imagining the world her character Grace would live in.

Her trip to Cuba was an eye-opener, she said.

"It really gets to you on different levels. There's so much culture and there's dancing, history and the classic cars.

"But if you go away from the touristy bits and go to the derelict areas you do see some of the darker side of the city."

The book's plot first came to Rosanna through her love of dancing.

"My first thought was that I wanted to write about dancing, I'm very interested in dancing and wanted to write about dance and music.

"The rumba is a dance with strong African roots which originated from black slaves and was thought of as a symbol for freedom and expresses their lives and relationships.

"The dance symbolises so much.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

"The first time I did a reading of the book it was to a WI group on Portland. I asked them if they were sure they wanted me to carry on with reading the bit at the beginning of the book as it's a bit steamy!

"I think they all quite enjoyed it in the end."

Rosanna chose the city of Bristol as a means of linking the UK portion of the book with Cuba.

"I chose Bristol because it's connected with the sugar trade. It was once a massive port, bigger than London.

"I thought it would be a good setting. I went on from there and played with the story and fitted it all together."

Talking to people in Cuba helped give the book an air of realism, Rosanna said.

"When we went over there I talked to a lot of people about how they felt about the political situation there and what has happened to Cuba since.

"I was trying to take in as much as possible."

In the past year Rosanna and her family have moved from Bothenhampton near Bridport to West Bay.

"The house needs everything doing to it!" Rosanna says.

"I've got a bit of a makeshift writing room at the moment, I'm using a big table as a desk, but there's a great view of the sea so I can't really complain.

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

"We had to have the place rewired and lived in our motorhome for two weeks. Once we got the heating sorted out it was OK, we remembered why we wanted to take on a project!"

Last Dance in Havana marks a slight change in style for Rosanna and sees the introduction of darker themes of adultery, alcoholism and poverty in her books.

The character of Grace, 39, is married and doesn't wish to have children - a character that will resonate with some people, I suggest to Rosanna.

"I think it's a situation that a lot of women around that age can find themselves in. There's a huge pressure in our country that for people by the age of 35 should be thinking about having children.

"Grace doesn't feel that way partly because she's with the wrong man. She finds herself an exciting new career and goes through a big learning curve about her parents, her situation and herself.

"I really like Grace."

Rosanna added: "A couple of people have said to me that this is a much faster paced and different book.

"I think all the books have a lot in common but I try to make them all a bit different.

"The first book I wrote, The Villa, was very different again, they're all different in their own way.

"As far as going on a different path with this book, I'm really not quite sure, I really love reading reading those type of books, grit noir, we call them."

Bridport and Lyme Regis News:

At this point we discuss the bestselling Girl On A Train by Paula Hawkins, soon to be released as a film and a book very far removed from her work, Rosanna says.

"With my books I love writing about the different locations and exploring these areas, the culture and the history of the places and what I love reading about more than anything else is the relationship between people and I can do that in these books.

"These domestic noir novels are so fast paced and there are so many twists in there. To me, there is so much twisting and turning, it will be interesting to see what happens to the genre because it's so popular at the moment.

"Someone tweeted me and asked if it's possible to have a best-selling novel that's not a thriller. It's certainly the most popular genre at the moment, for me I will stick to my beautiful locations and see how I get on!"

Rosanna's next book The Little Theatre By The Sea, which she is currently writing revisions for, will be set in Sardinia with the UK portion in West Dorset and Exeter.

*Last Dance in Havana is available now. Rosanna will be talking about the book in Waterstones, Dorchester on Monday May 23 at 7pm, in Waterstones Bridport on Saturday May 28 at 10am, in Tuckton Library, Bournemouth, on June 8 at 6.30pm and in Poole Library on Thursday June 9 at 7pm.