The Ingenue

to create an enthralling exploration of what the world does to ambitious women, and what happens when they take their power back. Saskia's stunning coda will ring in your head long after you turn the final page." --Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn

"The Ingenue is a beautiful fever dream of a story, a genre-blending mix of mystery and fairytale that metamorphizes into different stories as you're reading: an intimate look at the bonds between mothers and daughters, a searing exploration of who you are when you're no longer exceptional, a knife-edged tale of vengeance. It is utterly enthralling, provocative, and so smart it held me captive until the perfect, sinister end. A book for anyone who was told they were special and is still clawing their way back." --Ashley Winstead, author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

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

"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

"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