GRACE ANDERSEN
author



Les Petits Rats — a novel 
(Mock Cover)
Grace Andersen
unpublished

At Capitol Academy, everything comes down to who wants success the most—who’s willing to sacrifice their bodies, their mental health, and the outside world in exchange for the thing they've convinced themselves is their dream. Camille Carter thought ballet was everything—until her best friend sabotaged her debut and disappeared without a trace. Now she must recover from friend-heartbreak, meet the expectation of “Comeback Star,” and confront an impossible choice between career and conscience.


Query
 LES PETITS RATS, an upmarket  novel, is complete at 88,000 words. Blending academia, culty girlhood, and artist obsession, this work may appeal to fans of Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress and They’re Going To Love You by Meg Howrey.

Nearly a year has passed since Camille’s best friend, Lila, disrupted Capitol Academy’s Annual Spring Gala with a shocking stunt that sounded alarm bells for young performers everywhere. An evening that should have crowned Camille as the school’s rising star left both her and Capitol’s reputation hanging by a thread. With their new production fast approaching, Capitol has doubled down on their gamble: Camille is back in the lead role. But with whispers of backstage drama and last-minute cast changes, many are wondering if this year’s gala will redeem the school as a beacon of hope for aspiring performers—or cement its fall from grace. Can Camille deliver the comeback story the Academy so desperately needs, or is history doomed to repeat itself?

Set in present-day New York City, Capitol Academy is an elite, patron-funded conservatory housing one hundred of the country’s most promising young artists—talent cultivated for the stage and for those who bankroll it. Everything comes down to who wants to succeed the most—who’s willing to sacrifice their bodies, their mental health, and the outside world in exchange for the thing they’ve convinced themselves is their dream. Students endure demanding rehearsals, private patron meetings, relentless press scrutiny, and a culture that rewards silence as much as talent. But beneath the pressure, real friendships form—friendships that are messy, magnetic and loyal—girls choosing each other in a system designed to turn them into competition.

LES PETITS RATS is monikered by the nickname given to the exploited young ballerinas in Edgar Degas’ paintings of the Paris Opera.

Comps literature

Sirens & Muses  Antonia Angress

Worry  Alexandra Tanner

Never Let Me Go  Kazuo Ishiguro

Bunny  Mona Awad

They’re Going To Love You  Meg Howrey



film + tv

Black Swan   Darren Aronofsky

Whiplash   Damien Chazelle 

Suspiria   Luca Guadagnino

Moulin Rouge   Baz Luhrmann

Dance Moms   C.A. Productions

Synopsis
Full synopsis available upon request.



















DegasThe Dance Class
Edgar Degas
1874

LES PETITS RATS is monikered by the nickname given to the exploited young ballerinas of Degas’ 1870’s paintings of the Paris Opera House. 

“Many of these ballerinas-in-training, derisively called “petits rats,” came from working-class or impoverished backgrounds. They often joined the ballet to support their families, working grueling, six-day weeks… The dancers were expected to submit to the affections of subscribers. Such relationships could offer lifelines for the impoverished dancers; not only did these aristocrats and financiers hold powerful positions in society, their patronage underwrote the opera’s operations entirely.”
-Julia Fiore, Artsy

Tropes


girlhood
girl friendship
obsessed artist
bad habits
forced proximity
antiestablishment
coming-of-age
perfectionism
mildly dystopian 
elite institution
lgbtq+

Weird Girl Fiction


This work is inspired by and aspires to be
shelved beside 
the likes of Mona Awad, Ottessa Moshfegh, Melissa Broder, Coco Mellors, Eliza Clark, etc.




GRACE ANDERSEN
grace.andersennn@gmail.com

Grace received a creative writing degree that emphasized fiction, poetry and women’s studies. She manages a weekly writing workshop with six talented writers and hosts bi-annual open mic events. She spent three years as the head of marketing for a local bookstore before stepping down to pursue writing full-time.

As a writer, her long-term goal is to build a body of work that examines art, selfhood and connection in a commodified age— stories that are culturally engaged and emotionally resonant. She aims to write fiction that interrogates contemporary systems—art, power, and technology— while remaining intimate, character-driven and accessible.




works

     falling asleep first
creative writing zine, 2026

feral
        poetry chapbook, 2025

        girl love
        poem, Now is the Time of Monsters Publication, 2025

        viscera
         novel, 2024, unpublished

       the american conscience
        poetry and prose chapbook, 2020
 
       peach pits & the black abyss 
        poetry chapbook, 2018 
    
        the social disconnect; how social media is distorting your reality
        essay, killer and a sweet thang magazine, 2017

       cyclical
        poetry chapbook, 2017


GRACE ANDERSEN
AUTHOR






Les Petits Rats — a novel 
(Mock Cover)
Grace Andersen
unpublished


At Capitol Academy, everything comes down to who wants success the most—who’s willing to sacrifice their bodies, their mental health, and the outside world in exchange for the thing they've convinced themselves is their dream. Camille Carter thought ballet was everything—until her best friend sabotaged her debut and disappeared without a trace. Now she must recover from friend-heartbreak, meet the expectation of “Comeback Star,” and confront an impossible choice between career and conscience.

QueryLES PETITS RATS, an upmarket  novel, is complete at 88,000 words. Blending academia, culty girlhood, and artist obsession, this work may appeal to fans of Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress and They’re Going To Love You by Meg Howrey.

Nearly a year has passed since Camille’s best friend, Lila, disrupted Capitol Academy’s Annual Spring Gala with a shocking stunt that sounded alarm bells for young performers everywhere. An evening that should have crowned Camille as the school’s rising star left both her and Capitol’s reputation hanging by a thread. With their new production fast approaching, Capitol has doubled down on their gamble: Camille is back in the lead role. But with whispers of backstage drama and last-minute cast changes, many are wondering if this year’s gala will redeem the school as a beacon of hope for aspiring performers—or cement its fall from grace. Can Camille deliver the comeback story the Academy so desperately needs, or is history doomed to repeat itself?

Set in present-day New York City, Capitol Academy is an elite, patron-funded conservatory housing one hundred of the country’s most promising young artists—talent cultivated for the stage and for those who bankroll it. Everything comes down to who wants to succeed the most—who’s willing to sacrifice their bodies, their mental health, and the outside world in exchange for the thing they’ve convinced themselves is their dream. Students endure demanding rehearsals, private patron meetings, relentless press scrutiny, and a culture that rewards silence as much as talent. But beneath the pressure, real friendships form—friendships that are messy, magnetic and loyal—girls choosing each other in a system designed to turn them into competition.

LES PETITS RATS is monikered by the nickname given to the exploited young ballerinas in Edgar Degas’ paintings of the Paris Opera.

Compsliterature

Sirens & Muses  Antonia Angress

Worry  Alexandra Tanner

Never Let Me Go  Kazuo Ishiguro

Bunny  Mona Awad

The Secret History  Donna Tartt



film + tv

Black Swan   Darren Aronofsky

Whiplash   Damien Chazelle 

Suspiria   Luca Guadagnino

Moulin Rouge   Baz Luhrmann

Dance Moms   C.A. Productions





DegasThe Dance Class
Edgar Degas
1874

LES PETITS RATS is monikered by the nickname given to the exploited young ballerinas of Degas’ 1860’s paintings of the Paris Opera House. 

“Many of these ballerinas-in-training, derisively called “petits rats,” came from working-class or impoverished backgrounds. They often joined the ballet to support their families, working grueling, six-day weeks… The dancers were expected to submit to the affections of subscribers. Such relationships could offer lifelines for the impoverished dancers; not only did these aristocrats and financiers hold powerful positions in society, their patronage underwrote the opera’s operations.”
-Julia Fiore, Artsy

Weird Girl Fiction
This work is inspired by and aspires to be shelved beside the likes of Mona Awad, Ottessa Moshfegh, Melissa Broder, Coco Mellors, Donna Tartt, Eliza Clark, etc.Tropes
girlhood
girl friendship
obsessed artist
bad habits
forced proximity
antiestablishment
coming of age
perfectionism
mildly dystopian
elite institution



GRACE ANDERSEN
grace.andersennn@gmail.com


Grace received a creative writing degree that emphasized fiction, poetry and women’s studies. She manages a weekly writing workshop with six talented writers and hosts bi-annual open mic events. She spent three years as the head of marketing for a local bookstore before stepping down to pursue writing full-time.

As a writer, her long-term goal is to build a body of work that examines art, selfhood and connection in a commodified age—stories that are culturally engaged and emotionally resonant. She aims to write fiction that interrogates contemporary systems—art, power, and technology—while remaining intimate, character-driven and accessible. She wants her work to feel unsettling but familiar.

© Grace Andersen 2026