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The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke review
A young woman’s dissociation from reality and her road to recovery are vividly rendered in this striking novel
TL;DR
- Ada, the narrator, experiences dissociation, ontological insecurity, auditory and visual hallucinations.
- The novel explores how individuals create themselves and others.
- Ada meets Atticus, an American writer, with whom she develops a connection but stops short of intimacy.
- Her sense of identity disintegrates as she attempts to navigate normal life.
- A holiday with her mother on Naxos escalates her extreme behavior.
- Ada's breakdown leads her to believe she is in a care facility where she hallucinates.
- Her efforts to control her mental environment are key to her agency and recovery.
- The novel is compared to "Repulsion" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."