{"id":18911,"date":"2026-04-24T15:59:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18911"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:59:53","slug":"the-body-builders-by-albertine-clarke-review-a-compelling-debut-of-mental-meltdown-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18911","title":{"rendered":"The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke review \u2013 a compelling debut of mental meltdown | Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"


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M<\/span>eet Ada, the anguished young narrator of 26-year-old Albertine Clarke\u2019s radically strange and engrossing debut novel. Adrift in London, Ada occupies herself by swimming in her apartment\u2019s basement pool and generally hiding from the world until she finds herself on the verge of a tumultuous mental collapse. If you\u2019re allergic to the kind of novel in which characters exchange lines such as \u201cI\u2019m not real\u201d, \u201cNeither am I\u201d, then it\u2019s a case of diminishing returns. Otherwise, the book bears rich rewards.<\/p>\n

The title refers to Ada\u2019s father, an IT technician who is kicked out by Ada\u2019s mother when he becomes obsessed with the gym \u2013 and much of the book explores how we create ourselves and others. Ada grows up surrounded by the marshy countryside near Norwich and early on experiences episodes of dissociation and ontological insecurity, including auditory and visual hallucinations. She imagines a\u00a0voice on the radio saying her parents are getting divorced. The voice is \u201clike\u00a0a door swung open inside her head. Through it she could see a black tunnel, like a mine shaft, stretching down inside her.\u201d<\/p>\n

This voice follows her into adult life, and her listless days by the pool. It\u2019s here\u00a0she meets an older man named Atticus, a writer with an American accent. His male gaze is an affront to her: \u201cShe was not used to being looked at. It was as if curtains had been drawn back to reveal a secret audience she hadn\u2019t realised she\u2019d been performing for.\u201d Despite this, they fall for each other, but stop short of\u00a0intimacy when Atticus flies back to California. In his absence, Ada becomes convinced \u201cthey were connected. Atticus had her\u00a0memories.\u201d<\/p>\n