Different Stages

A trio of novels spirits you far away.

- CHLOE SCHAMA

The world of Russian ballet is a rarefied one, and Juhea Kim’s escapist second novel, City of Night Birds (Ecco), takes you deep into the corps of the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg, onto the vast stage of the Bolshoi in Moscow, and into the ranks of the Opéra Nationale in Paris. Kim, who trained in dance at a young age, writes lush prose buttressed by vivid detail— the pain in a dancer’s foot, the smell of sweat backstage, the searing heat of blisters soaked in vodka. Our heroine, Natalia, rises from humble beginnings to become a world renowned prima, with a self-confidence and hauteur to match—and her story is packed with drama: love affairs (several), high-stakes rivalries, and an accident th