The Ballerinas - by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

"Enthralling...irresistible." --New York Times
"A standing ovation to this debut." --E! News

Thirteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg--taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career--and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside--all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget.

Review Quotes

One of the "Biggest Mysteries and Thrillers for the Rest of 2021" --Goodreads

"The ways in which women torture their bodies in pursuit of creative dreams make for enthralling fictional drama. This terrain proves irresistible in The Ballerinas, a debut novel set in the hothouse atmosphere of the Paris Opera Ballet academy as three students grow up, compete, forge friendships and embark on a trail of destruction...Kapelke-Dale has thought through the larger picture, and examined how trauma and asymmetries of power derail so many dancers."
--The New York Times

"A standing ovation to this debut."
--E! News

"This highly readable, dramatic look behind the curtains is an unqualified success."
--Booklist

"A well-crafted thriller for fans of Megan Abbott's."
--Publishers Weekly

"Deliciously observed emotional tangles"
--Library Journal

"You'll never look at ballet the same."
--Book Riot

"Deftly uses the professional dance setting to explore the complexities of female friendships and the lingering impacts of ballet's patriarchal culture as it hurtles toward the bloody conclusion promised on the first pages."
--Dance Magazine

"Engrossing, deft and insightful, I loved The Ballerinas--from its provocative opening pages, to its blistering climax, to its exactly right final scenes."
--Cathy Marie Buchanan, New York Times bestselling author of The Painted Girls

"Deftly constructed and crackling with tension, The Ballerinas is a stunner of a novel, with electric prose and careful observations on loyalty, ambition, power, and rage within the crucible of intense female friendships. I tore through this unforgettable thriller."
--Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here

"Wonderfully atmospheric, The Ballerinas is a twirling dream of a story."
--Araminta Hall, author of Our Kind of Cruelty

About the Author