The Apple and the Pearl

by Rym Kechacha

A richly atmospheric fantasy set across one day, as a ballet troupe of lost souls perform an ancient dance for the faerie realms, knowing they could be snatched away by their audience of faerie princes, imps and sprites at any moment.

For fans of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, Pantomime by Laura Lam and The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee.

As dawn breaks on All Souls Day, the lingering mists part to unveil an unending vista of serried gravestones. Between them looms a theatre like a haunted house from a horror film and the sleek iron carapace of a steam train - the Pearl. On board are the cast, orchestra and crew of a travelling ballet company, performing a show called The Apple and the Pearl.

Nine o' clock in the morning and as he stumbles toward the restaurant car the lighting director, Zach, is introduced to a new recruit, Lara. "Have you ever worked in ballet before?" he asks her and quickly follows up with, "Have you had any contact with the supernatural?"

Everyone from the principal ballerina to the first violinist, from the wardrobe mistress to the newest members of the corps de ballet does everything they can to get the show on stage and looking fantastic. But in the world of The Apple and The Pearl these artists also have to contend with the malevolent glamour of an audience of Fae creatures only too eager to snatch them away into the Otherworld.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 3, 2026

About the author

Rym Kechacha is a writer and teacher from London. She is the author of Dark River (2020, shortlisted for two British Fantasy Awards) and To Catch a Moon (2022) An omnivorous reader, she writes speculative fiction and is inspired by mythology, nature and art.

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The traveling ballet The Apple and the Pearl is like no other show, and similarly their audience is like no other audience. Every member of the cast and crew have pledged themselves to this production, and yet their tour is filled with drama, romance, magic, and danger. Each of them might be fighting their own battles, but the show must go on.

I really wanted to give this four stars because it had a lot of promise but I just had one too many issues with it. I enjoyed the premise of this traveling ballet performing each night in a different place to a crowd of fairfolk, and the choice to convey the story through so many perspectives. This magical train is such a good setting for creating drama because everyone has their own issues and ambitions, and there's this looming threat of being stolen away by the fae. That being said, the number of perspectives means you never really get attached to any one character, which is a shame because each of their POVs has a lot of interiority and conflict going on. Some were more interesting and others, and it's frustrating that there are really interesting characters that we never revisit. I also think there wasn't enough...beauty? maybe whimsey? to the magic. It's such a big sacrifice to join this crew and it's hard to understand why anyone does it because it's not like the magic is just too tempting. It's almost entirely dismal and dangerous with no glimmer to be tempting, either to the characters or the reader. Something like The Night Circus (which was comp'd for this book) works in part because the imagery and fantasy is so alluring that you can understand how fundamentally special it is underneath the danger. This world had little to no escapism-value. I mean, they called the train the "Grub" and the theater the "Grit" so it's all kind of unappealing.

Great premise but the world and characters really didn't hit the mark for me.

Thank you to Rym Kechacha and Titan Books for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

[Venneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hell of an ensemble novel. We get a story about a traveling theater company and the strange play it stages every night, all about where exactly it is they're traveling, cast members' trials and tribulations, and their pasts and hopes and traumas, all while watching the play unfold for the night. This is exquisitely crafted and incredibly well structured, and the reveal of what the function of the play actually is and where it is they're traveling is hinted but slowly blooms through the structure. If you liked the Spear Cuts Through the Water, you'll love this. Pick this up when it comes out in February.

[Elle Cheshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story follows the cast of The Apple and The Pearl, a ballet group who live and work on the train and perform somewhere new each night. It delivers one day (All Souls day) to us from the point of views of many characters, showing what it’s like to live and work for the Pearl, what lessons they’ve learned, what prices they’ve paid and what hopes they might still have as every night they perform the ballet to an audience of glamoured creatures.

It gave me the ethereal feeling of The Night Circus, each new character taking me on a different journey through the mundanities of life, the uncanny of the Otherworld and the raw humanity that bleeds from us all. It felt both intangible and indelible, the way the story unfolded is almost dream like. Its takes us through the ballet weaving art and danger inexplicably together. The characters are all devoted to the show in different ways but through it all is the overseeing eye of The Crow. Its balances elegance and unease, fear and elation, it’s the ballet beautifully delivered in all its many facets alongside the dangerous dark edge of folklore. Every day is a new chance to be stolen away to the Otherworld, to leave an unspoken hole in the troupe.

It’s enchanting and lyrical read that looks at art, sacrifice and devotion. How much will these lost souls give to The Apple and the Pearl?

It’s softly atmospheric and minimally fantasy with a large cast. I enjoyed some POVs a lot more than others and finished it unsure how I felt. I also felt it had too much technical description of ballet and music etc the author is clearly very well researched but it took away from certain characters for me.

I do think I expected something a little different from what I got. It’s less about faeries and more a character exploration of the cast of the ballet. The magical beings are more of a background to the story. It’s a day in the life for a dozen characters rather than a linear plot with an inciting incident and action beats. Certainly very well written but not a style everyone will enjoy

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Apple and the Pearl is a novel that feels like stepping into a dream—one that’s beautiful, unsettling, and impossible to shake off. Rym Kechacha conjures a world where art and danger are inseparable, following a ballet troupe of lost souls as they perform for an audience of faerie princes, imps, and sprites who might claim them at any moment.

The setting is richly atmospheric: dawn breaking over All Souls Day, mists curling around endless gravestones, and the haunting presence of the Pearl, a steam train carrying the company toward their nightly performance. It’s a stage both magical and menacing, where every pirouette and note of music is shadowed by the possibility of being swept into the Otherworld.

What makes the book so captivating is its blend of elegance and unease. The dancers, musicians, and crew are devoted to their craft, yet their art is performed under the watchful eyes of beings who embody both glamour and threat. Kechacha writes with a lyrical touch, weaving together the ephemeral beauty of ballet with the timeless pull of folklore.

For readers who loved the lush enchantment of The Night Circus or the dangerous allure of Caraval, this novel offers a similarly intoxicating mix of wonder and peril. It’s a story about art, sacrifice, and the fragile line between devotion and doom—an atmospheric fantasy that lingers like music after the curtain falls.

with thanks to Rym Kechacha, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

[Cori Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book to discover what it would be like to be part of a travelling ballet company, performing for the Fae every night.

I enjoyed this story so much! It's told from a range of character viewpoints, including dancers, musicians and crew, to patchwork together a description of a community connected by performance, and separated by many of the usual things that separate humans. It doesn't have a linear plot; it's the goings-on of a single day. However, there are backstories and reminiscences throughout so it never feels one-note or limited.

It's also fairly dark ... these are not twee fairies, but the Fae of much folklore: tricking, kidnapping and in general having a set of priorities and desires vastly at odds with humanity. So much plot tension comes from that, and yet most characters have developed ways to deal -- no matter how strange the audience & setting, the show must go on.

So, something like a Mrs Dalloway structure with The Night Circus vibes, and people reacting to the seldom-seen but ever-present mean Folk of the Air fae via Pan's Labyrinth's atmosphere. Dear goodness, I'm terrible with comparisons, unsure if this helps or oversells around expectation-setting, LOL. Possibly both. You'll have to decide yourself.


This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.

[Siavahda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Kechacha’s deeply strange debut, but The Apple and the Pearl is – at least as of 37% in, which is where I DNFed – functionally Lit Fic, not fantasy.

Literally ONE of the dozen-plus PoVs is any kind of interesting; a changeling who was kicked out of Faerie as a teen and has spent his life trying to get back there. Everybody else is painfully banal, with painfully banal concerns and thoughts. Pages and pages of people thinking about everyday romances or the new coworker or what they’ll do with their lives when they go back to living in the human world. Making calls to senile parents and dealing with bounced cheques. Even the music and dancing is reduced to a bunch of technical terms that mean nothing to me. Where’s the magic and wonder, the art, the fear of being stolen by faeries?

I have no critiques for the prose, though it only really gets to shine in the rare fantastical moments. The characters all feel very much like real people, perfectly believable. But this is so terribly boring as a story, a reading experience. Not at all what I signed up for.

[Mon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored the idea of a travelling ballet troupe performing for the fae every night, but I thought the story would have more meat on its bones and not literally "a day in the life" on the train - there is no plot!

It floats around from POV to POV and there's some beautiful imagery and tantalising mentions of the fae but really it's a dozen characters going about one specific day and reminiscing on their hopes, dreams and memories.

The ballet is, obviously, the heart of everyone's day and it does sound beautiful - I wish I could attend the performance, or even just hear the music.

I love the setup of the Grit and the Grub - the train and the moving stage - the teasing of who the audience is, and the memories of the land of Fae but ultimately I would have enjoyed it more if it was more a traditional fantasy novel with a proper plot.

Big thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

[Hannah Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had wonderful ideas with unexpected execution. If you’re expecting whimsy and enchantment because you read this story is about a magical train and ballet troupe, you will be disappointed. This is a much darker tale with a fantasy backdrop. For me, there simply wasn’t enough lore and explanation of the world. We are just kind of dropped in and given vague hints along the way. I wish we learned more about the history of the train and ballet troupe, as well as more information on the fae and their world. This book is very much character based. Unfortunately there are so many characters that you aren’t able to get attached to any. After about 60 percent nothing kept me engaged or made me want to keep reading. Perhaps it would’ve been better with maybe 3 or 4 perspectives. At first I enjoyed mundane everyday tasks of life on the train and in the ballet, but it become repetitive and uninteresting.

[Y.N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for the eARC

An interesting idea with an execution I wasn't expecting. It's not bad, but don't expect a fantasy book with a lot of momentum and active plot. I wanted to have more to chew on, more world to navigate with the characters. But that wasn't what the author wanted, so it is more a story about a moment in time, in the (numerous) characters' head. They think about their dreams and hopes ass they travel, and that's pretty much it. High potential but not my kind of read.

We may be floating from head to head, but the ballet is the core of the story, as you might expect. The train (The Grit) and the moving stage (The Grub) were intriguing, but not enough to keep me very interested. I wanted more land of the Fae, more... yeah more meat.

Still, if you are more of a litfic infused with magic kind of reader, you might enjoy this one !

[Unsung Stories · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most gorgeously written and mature works of literary fantasy I've read in years. The way the novel delivers the entire ballet company as the main character is fascinating, and they're all so human and familiar. This is a large cast, sure, but it's a community of lost souls, all these wounded people gathered around their frailties, wishing and hoping for magic to change them somehow. And the pervading sense of magic lingering at the edges, the constant presence of the fae always just out of sight, is masterfully handled. If you're after smouldering fae princes turning up with eyeliner and moody tensions to lure swooning people into the tropes, you may be disappointed. But if you're after a deeply beautiful reflection on how and why we create beauty, and what value art offers when life can be so indifferent and cruel, then please take your seats, because that was the last call and it's curtains in 5.

[Ai Jiang]

A big thank you to the editor and publisher for an ARC of the book!!

THE APPLE AND THE PEARL is a mesmerizing performance both on and off stage. It is a tale liminal, magical, with an underlying melancholic lull, like a mourning ballad, an eulogy for both people and memories with a sinister creeping tugging at the thin veil casted over the lurking shadows. Hypnotic and haunting, THE APPLE AND THE PEARL features characters who both wish to be remembered but also forgotten, and interweaves the spiritual and musical, while illuminating the sacrifices necessary for art and theatre through a complex web of bonds—both fragile and strong—and the consequential grief and loss that plagues each performer and helping hand.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher. This book reminded me a little of The Naming Song. It’s set around a train of performers. Most of the book is set as in depth character vignettes where we learn of the performers as individuals, their backstories, their relationships, hopes, dreams, and their place in the troupe. There’s a connection running through of the train, but also an increasingly menacing fae presence and the crow who is mentioned throughout.

This had quite a light fantasy dusting, it’s more character focused than plot based. It really delves deep into who the people who have ended up on this train are and their desires and dilemmas.

The writing is quite lovely at times and there’s a real artistic current throughout. We see actors, musicians, dancers, costume creators. There’s such a love of theatre and performance that blossoms throughout this story.