The Ballerinas, Rachel KapelkeDale
The Ballerinas, Rachel KapelkeDale
11 Rating(s)
List: $28.99 | Sale: $20.29
Club: $14.49

The Ballerinas
A Novel

Author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Narrator: Ell Potter

Unabridged: 13 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/07/2021

Synopsis

"What I most enjoyed was Potter’s narration. Her British accent adds even more sophistication to this creepy, insular ballet world" -- Marshall Heyman, Vulture

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 Léger 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 thirty-six 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 a magnetic cast of characters you won't soon forget.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

About Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Rachel Kapelke-Dale is the author of The Ingenue and The Ballerinas, and co-author of Graduates in Wonderland. Kapelke-Dale received a B.A. from Brown University, where she rode on the varsity equestrian team, an M.A. from the Université de Paris-Diderot, and a Ph.D. from University College London. She currently lives in Paris.

About Ell Potter

Ell Potter (she/they) graduated from LAMDA in 2019. While studying, she was named Audible’s ‘Breakout Star’, recording their bestselling Thriller of the Year and gaining an Audie nomination for her debut performance. She has since recorded over 90 audiobooks for major international publishers including Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperAudio, and the BBC.Ell is a nine-time AudioFile Earphones Award-winner, and her narration of Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell was named a Washington Post Audiobook of the Year. Before training as an actor, she read English at the University of Oxford, where she graduated with first class honours and was the winner of the Nigel Smith Memorial Prize for English Literature. Ell admires writing that is muscular, intricate and unexpected, and her narration style pays close attention to the musicality of a text—always with full emotional commitment.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on January 20, 2024

Lackluster first half and clunky second half The Ballerinas focuses on three women: Margaux, Lindsay, and Delphine, three dancers who have grown up together. After an extended absence, Delphine returns to Paris to choreograph a ballet, giving her an opportunity to reconnect with her besties. Can Delp......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on February 22, 2022

This book is solid, character driven, well researched, realistic approach to the ballerinas’ disciplined, competitive, excruciating lifestyle! I was expecting to read a thriller after seeing the blurb about defining the novel as Black swan meets Luckiest Girl Alive but this is closer to women’s fic......more

Goodreads review by Regina on December 14, 2021

Imagine a ballerina tightly twirling with an unbound copy of a book pressed to her chest, with so much poise and promise, only to stumble and fling the loose pages all over the stage. She gathers most of them up in random order, does an arabesque, and hands the reshuffled, incomplete story over to y......more

Goodreads review by Catherine on January 22, 2022

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Rachel Kapelke-Dale for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 12.7!** "When one lifts a ballerina, it is not her weight but her nature that causes the problem."-Maris Liepa This book of ballerinas and friendship had me pirouetting, indeed....b......more

Goodreads review by karen on December 09, 2021

IS ME! if you're reading reviews of this book because your interest has been piqued by the publisher's Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive hook, allow me to walk you through the valley of truth on those comps because although this is an excellent debut, those "matches" are misleading and......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List