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The Body Builders: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 3 Mar 26For readers of Megan Nolan and Sheila Heti, a mesmerizing Borgesian literary debut about the frayed borders between our bodies and minds.
Ada lives a solitary life. She spends her days in her London apartment building's swimming pool, occasionally visiting with her cousin Francesca and meeting her friends, each of them chatting, drinking, posing invitations Ada ignores. Ada's parents are recently divorced after her father became a he spends his days at the gym, which is crowded and bright, warm with human proximity, infrequently calling to express minor concerns around his daughter's well-being.
When she meets a man named Atticus by the pool, Ada immediately feels an intimate connection between they share a life, in a way she can't explain. Little by little, Ada's estrangement from her familiar surroundings and from reality widens, as though seeing her reflection through a mirror, pieces of it falling away. After her mother entreats Ada to join her on a remote Greek holiday, Ada is jolted out of the physical world and into a new, artificial environment, one that a mysterious and potentially otherworldly force has created and designed for her. As this brilliant first novel pivots with masterful effect into the surreal and speculative, we move through Ada's experiences of life like spokes on a wheel, profoundly surprised by the enduring mystery of our existence, and of our relationships with ourselves and others. When a person's life, in the odd space between mind and body, is inherently one of isolation, are our connections with those around us merely projections of ourselves? And if not, where do they come from?
Albertine Clarke transforms the speculative into an entirely singular experience of deep interiority. The precision, subtlety, and confidence of her writing is nothing short of astonishing. THE BODY BUILDERS is new classic of the speculative fiction genre, landing like a blow, widening a crack that allows us to perceive the world wholly differently than we ever imagined.
Ada lives a solitary life. She spends her days in her London apartment building's swimming pool, occasionally visiting with her cousin Francesca and meeting her friends, each of them chatting, drinking, posing invitations Ada ignores. Ada's parents are recently divorced after her father became a he spends his days at the gym, which is crowded and bright, warm with human proximity, infrequently calling to express minor concerns around his daughter's well-being.
When she meets a man named Atticus by the pool, Ada immediately feels an intimate connection between they share a life, in a way she can't explain. Little by little, Ada's estrangement from her familiar surroundings and from reality widens, as though seeing her reflection through a mirror, pieces of it falling away. After her mother entreats Ada to join her on a remote Greek holiday, Ada is jolted out of the physical world and into a new, artificial environment, one that a mysterious and potentially otherworldly force has created and designed for her. As this brilliant first novel pivots with masterful effect into the surreal and speculative, we move through Ada's experiences of life like spokes on a wheel, profoundly surprised by the enduring mystery of our existence, and of our relationships with ourselves and others. When a person's life, in the odd space between mind and body, is inherently one of isolation, are our connections with those around us merely projections of ourselves? And if not, where do they come from?
Albertine Clarke transforms the speculative into an entirely singular experience of deep interiority. The precision, subtlety, and confidence of her writing is nothing short of astonishing. THE BODY BUILDERS is new classic of the speculative fiction genre, landing like a blow, widening a crack that allows us to perceive the world wholly differently than we ever imagined.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
228 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication March 3, 2026
3855 people want to read
About the author
Albertine Clarke
1 book8 followersAlbertine Clarke received an MFA in fiction from the University of Florida and studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh where she won the Lewis Edwards Memorial prize for creative writing. Raised in London, she now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 9, 2025
2.5
not! good!
not! good!
February 11, 2026
THE BODY BUILDERS
Albertine Clarke
Thank you for the gifted copies (ARC and ALC) to @bloomsburybooksus and @librofm. You can tell I read this book on audio by how I put my earbuds next to the book. 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Anyway. Just zoned out. What? Who? Where am I again? What is this. What’s happening. Who are these people? am I even real, and does it even matter, honestly why I am I thinking about this at all?
If you’ve felt like that, or feel that way literally right now, you might be into The Body Builders.
Clarke has a unique style, a simple brushstroke with her prose that really does a wonderful job building a structured story up behind a hazy, confusing exterior. What I mean is, you get to feel as confused sometimes as the narrator, which is just very difficult to pull off in a novel, but here it’s done with grace.
Ada, the confused narrator, is typically alone but falls in love with Atticus. Love at first sight: an out of body experience for many, no? Well. Here’s the novel that takes both of those well-known phrases and tells you just why that may be the case—or why it is for Ada at least.
What’s fun about this book is that you can take it all at face value and have a good time, or you can look at this book from the side a little and see a different sort of thing happening to a modern woman, to a brain stuck in a body stuck in a world with this bizarre, unasked-for, terrifically untrustworthy consciousness.
If I may: start this one expecting to use a bit of discernment. Don’t walk here lightly. This is very creative, a bit complex, but in the end a pretty fresh book. No doubt when I hear of Clarke’s next novel headed our way, I will be gladly checking it out.
Albertine Clarke
Thank you for the gifted copies (ARC and ALC) to @bloomsburybooksus and @librofm. You can tell I read this book on audio by how I put my earbuds next to the book. 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
Anyway. Just zoned out. What? Who? Where am I again? What is this. What’s happening. Who are these people? am I even real, and does it even matter, honestly why I am I thinking about this at all?
If you’ve felt like that, or feel that way literally right now, you might be into The Body Builders.
Clarke has a unique style, a simple brushstroke with her prose that really does a wonderful job building a structured story up behind a hazy, confusing exterior. What I mean is, you get to feel as confused sometimes as the narrator, which is just very difficult to pull off in a novel, but here it’s done with grace.
Ada, the confused narrator, is typically alone but falls in love with Atticus. Love at first sight: an out of body experience for many, no? Well. Here’s the novel that takes both of those well-known phrases and tells you just why that may be the case—or why it is for Ada at least.
What’s fun about this book is that you can take it all at face value and have a good time, or you can look at this book from the side a little and see a different sort of thing happening to a modern woman, to a brain stuck in a body stuck in a world with this bizarre, unasked-for, terrifically untrustworthy consciousness.
If I may: start this one expecting to use a bit of discernment. Don’t walk here lightly. This is very creative, a bit complex, but in the end a pretty fresh book. No doubt when I hear of Clarke’s next novel headed our way, I will be gladly checking it out.
Review of advance copy
Albertine Clarke’s hypnotic debut novel centers on Ada, a troubled young woman from a fractured family. Her father’s interest in working out at the gym supersedes any parental responsibility or romantic attachment to her mother and they ultimately divorce. Ada is left living a solitary life in her London apartment with only a cousin for occasional social outings. One day she meets a man named Atticus by the pool at her apartment with whom she feels an instantaneous bond. This connection leads Ada into a surreal world of discovery she was not quite prepared for. A world that she had glimpses of as a child but begins to manifest more extensively as she becomes an adult
In this deeply introspective novel Clarke takes us through Ada’s process of self awareness and self understanding with dreamlike intensity. Constantly having access to Ada’s internal thoughts is strangely not oppressive but rather intriguing as we follow the journey toward self knowledge of her body.
Indeed, the reader comes to learn that Clarke’s title has more than one meaning.
In this deeply introspective novel Clarke takes us through Ada’s process of self awareness and self understanding with dreamlike intensity. Constantly having access to Ada’s internal thoughts is strangely not oppressive but rather intriguing as we follow the journey toward self knowledge of her body.
Indeed, the reader comes to learn that Clarke’s title has more than one meaning.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Shew. That was something. If you're interested in an out-of-body (literally) fever dream experience, look no further than The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke. I am so thankful to Bloomsbury US and Netgalley for advanced access before March 3, 2026.
Ada has never felt like she belonged. What's more, everyone in her life has never felt a connection deep enough worth mentioning... that is, until she meets Atticus in her apartment building's natatorium, and it's like she understands his entire existence, yet he's a complete stranger. This random meeting unveils a long history of uncanny experiences that usher Ada directly into a rabbit hole of mania and imposter syndrome, not too metaphorically.
Out-of-body experience is the theme here, yall.
Note: I was so captivated by the madness, and could get lost in Albertine Clarke's prose, for I too felt as though I was catapulted into Ada's mania, seeking refuge in insanity. bravo.
Ada has never felt like she belonged. What's more, everyone in her life has never felt a connection deep enough worth mentioning... that is, until she meets Atticus in her apartment building's natatorium, and it's like she understands his entire existence, yet he's a complete stranger. This random meeting unveils a long history of uncanny experiences that usher Ada directly into a rabbit hole of mania and imposter syndrome, not too metaphorically.
Out-of-body experience is the theme here, yall.
Note: I was so captivated by the madness, and could get lost in Albertine Clarke's prose, for I too felt as though I was catapulted into Ada's mania, seeking refuge in insanity. bravo.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
mixed feelings on this one. i enjoyed the straightforward prose despite the confusion at the heart of the book’s plot.
i think the concept had so much potential, but the execution felt disjointed to me. the plot line with atticus, the stranger that our main character feels an inexplicable connection to, gets lost as the novel turns into a surreal fever dream of surveillance and imagination. there's also a lot of familial tension that seemed to fall to the wayside. i wish there was a stronger thread connecting the different pieces of the puzzle.
thank you to bloomsbury and netgalley for the digital copy, publishes march 3!
i think the concept had so much potential, but the execution felt disjointed to me. the plot line with atticus, the stranger that our main character feels an inexplicable connection to, gets lost as the novel turns into a surreal fever dream of surveillance and imagination. there's also a lot of familial tension that seemed to fall to the wayside. i wish there was a stronger thread connecting the different pieces of the puzzle.
thank you to bloomsbury and netgalley for the digital copy, publishes march 3!
October 3, 2025
This book was very addicting. Ada is a relatable character for me personally. The connection between her and Atticus was so well written out it had me hooked. The theme of isolation was fascinating in this book’s plot and it really got me thinking of how we perceive things in life. I don’t always feel like I learn life lessons from books but this one really opened my eyes. The characters were so well developed and the plot was easy for me to follow. This is another must read! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Author
OH!! What a strange and beautiful and harrowing and life-affirming book. Quite unlike anything else I’ve ever read, though the vibes remind me of Piranesi and Our Wives Under the Sea. Excellent read for girls who feel unseen and unloved and untethered. Thank u albertine for the advance copy ❤️
Review of advance copy
A sparse read for the weird girls, who think a lot about worth and loneliness.
This book is a thinker, and makes you think about isolation, and how we perceive the world around us.
What is loneliness? What does it mean? Is it real? How desperate are we to be loved and seen?
Great narration.
This book is a thinker, and makes you think about isolation, and how we perceive the world around us.
What is loneliness? What does it mean? Is it real? How desperate are we to be loved and seen?
Great narration.
Want to read
September 30, 2025i think i'll be sent into some philosophical spiral after reading this
Review of advance copy
One of my recent favorites!! I am obsessed with this book and could not put it down. Highly highly recommend!
February 16, 2026
1/3 in, not sure what is going on and what storyline to follow, so I DNF.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews