Fourteen 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, 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.
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Rating: 4 Stars
My Review: I went in expecting a dark thriller similar to Black Swan but found this one pretty mild compared to that movie. While it wasn't nearly as dark and twisted I did enjoy seeing the slightly dirtier side of ballet. It started out a little bit slow in the beginning but picked up about halfway through. This wonderful story follows Delphine and her two friends as they go through a competitive ballet school for the Paris Opera Ballet and o to the even more competitive careers. I was slightly disappointed in the big secret, I felt like it was a little bit of a let down, however I felt that it was slightly redeemed with the murder in the end. I felt that the main character Delphine was the perfect amount of mean girl for most of the story and it was nice to see her growth into a good friend and a less selfish person.
Praise for The Ballerinas:
"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
"Echoes of Black Swan and part Luckiest Girl Alive"
––PureWow
"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
"The Ballerinas 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
"You’ll never look at ballet the same."
––Book Riot
"There's something so tantalizing about the combo of the pristine nature of ballet mixed with the messy drama of a thriller."
––Nylon
"A confident, enthralling debut...a stellar mystery."
––Sun Sentinel
“[A]n unflinching, unapologetically feminist glimpse into the world of professional ballet.”
––Bookpage.com
"Forever shaped by their friendship and the most grueling artform in the world, three friends navigate love, secrets, ambition and the pursuit of artistic perfection within the hallowed walls of the world’s most prestigious ballet school and company. 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 and Daughter of Black Lake
"Wonderfully atmospheric, The Ballerinas is a twirling dream of a story exploring the sacrifices and pain of creation, the shrinking of women and the pressure of always being on show."
––Araminta Hall, author of Our Kind of Cruelty
"A dark and searing exploration of bodily autonomy, friendship, memory and loss set in the gritty, bloody world of elite ballet. I was hooked from the first line of this shimmering debut."
––Ella Berman, author of The Comeback
"There is a moment in The Ballerinas when Rachel Kapelke-Dale describes ballet as a place where women “both reign and serve.” If you are anticipating competition and sabotage here, you won’t be wrong―but to distill this novel to its rivalries is to do it a great injustice. The Ballerinas is an incisive examination of a place and institution that both depends upon and diminishes women; Kapelke-Dale has crafted a sharp exploration of bodies, art, and agency that left me wondering what it means to be an audience member, and what it means to be seen."
––Emily Layden, author of All Girls
"Kapelke-Dale's debut comes roaring out of the wings with all the grace and strength of a prima ballerina. 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―and I'll never look at professional dance the same way again."
––Andrea Bartz, author of We Were Never Here
"Rachel Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas is an engrossing, smart, and page-turning novel about sacrifice in the name of art. The characters at the heart of The Ballerinas hold their loyalty to loved ones up against their loyalty for ballet, measuring how much of themselves and their bodies they are willing to offer. Kapelke-Dale's writing confronts questions of aging, violence, and friendship to confront ballet's allure and brutality. The result is a novel filled with grace and strength."
––Ellen O'Connell Whittet, author of What You Become in Flight
"Hypnotic, electrifying, and propulsive, The Ballerinas is a completely unmissable debut. Its extraordinary power comes not only from the gorgeous writing and searing social commentary, but how it portrays women's relationships with our bodies, our ambition, and our collective desires. Kapelke-Dale is a phenomenal talent, and this novel is imbued with all the grace, elegance, and fierceness that dancers embody."
––Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, bestselling author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here
About the Author
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