Clara & Olivia: 'A wonderful, eye-opening debut'. The Times

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The young women are identical twins, but their personalities are nothing alike. Olivia is meticulous, quiet and always prepared for classes; whereas Clara is a disorganised extrovert, always searching for the next best thing. The story revolves almost entirely around Clara and Olivia, something that’s further reinforced by the chapters told from Samuel and Nathan’s perspectives. Just as the sisters are obsessed with dance, Samuel and Nathan have their own fixations, which range from harmless infatuations to more destructive fascinations. As these obsessions intensify, there’s a real feeling of the tension escalating and the characters tumbling towards a single moment that will bond them forever. Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, the most frequent piece of advice authors are given is to write what you know. Which is exactly what Lucy Ashe has done with her debut novel Clara & Olivia – a dark, suspenseful and unsettling story of obsession, perfection and sisterly love. Set in the early 1930’s, within the ultra competitive and ruthless world of ballet, the novel follows the titular sisters as they attempt to dance their way to the top.

Nathan or Samuel will end up taking their obsession too far - but you’ll have to read the book to find out which, and what happens.

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My thanks to OneWorld Publications Magpie Books for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Clara and Olivia’ by Lucy Ashe.

A central theme of the story is appearance versus reality. It’s very exciting to read about the exhilerating performances the company gives to appreciative audiences, the cultural events and wild nights Clara experiences, and the opportunities that materialise for the twins. In Clara & Olivia, by Lucy Ashe, we’re transported to the glamorous, yet rigorous world of ballet in 1930s London. The eponymous twins are nineteen years old, in the corps de ballet at Sadler’s Wells, and on the cusp of something big.Finally, the characters are epic and there are so many stunning scenes of action, dance, and drama, I can't wait to see Clara & Olivia shown as a series! This book is creepy as ****! But in the best way. In Clara & Olivia, Lucy Ashe has created a world where the height of creativity and art meet mental illness and obsession, set in the early days of what would become the Royal Ballet at Sadler’s Wells. We find ourselves plunged into the world of the Vic-Wells Ballet in their early years at Sadler’s Wells, focused on rehearsals for Delibes’ ballet ‘Coppélia’. We encounter Ninette de Valois, Constant Lambert, Lydia Lopokova, and many other storied names from the history of a company that eventually became the Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School. Into this impeccably researched and vividly evoked framework are inserted four wholly fictional characters around whom the action centres. There are two identical twins, Clara and Olivia Marionetta, both dancers in the ‘corps de ballet’, and two men, Samuel Steward and Nathan Howell, each of whom is involved with one of the sisters. This skill, coupled with the personal issues and worries the characters grapple with instilled strong empathy and left me caring deeply about both major and minor characters alike. I was fully invested in the internal challenges, thoughts, doubts, falters, and second guesses they faced, hoping they would prevail and took great pleasure in each internal victory! I wasn’t surprised to find out the author was a trained ballerina herself, as the novel is so rich in detail about the dancers’ routines (in terms of both the moves they perform and what they do all day!), what is expected of a ballerina, and the big names of the day, at a time when British ballet was coming into its own. I couldn’t help but smile when ballet critic Arnold Haskell popped up, having drawn on his autobiography for my PhD on only children in history.