Natural Beauty
Ling Ling Huang
£10.99
Mr B's review
A heartfelt and chilling read, perfect for fans of Chlorine, Motherthing, and The Substance.
Our unnamed narrator is a second-generation Chinese immigrant living in the US. Once a piano prodigy studying at a top NYC Conservatory, she has since given up on her dreams and is barely scraping by washing dishes in a restaurant. So it seems like a miracle when she is offered a job at Holistik – a luxury wellness and beauty brand that uses ‘all-natural’ treatments to keep its wealthy clientele looking and feeling young. Being part of the customer facing section of Holistik, our narrator is given a personalised regiment of supplements and products to enhance her beauty. Thrilled at first by the free beauty products, she slowly begins to realise that the treatments are changing her in ways she hadn’t bargained for… – Nethmi
Description
‘A meditation on how horror can lurk beneath the surface of even the most poreless skin’ New York Times Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Bisexual Novel 2024
A WIRED Best Book of 2023
An Audible Best Horror Book of 2023
For fans of The Substance
Our narrator produces a wondrous sound from the piano learned from her mother and father, who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store.
Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures, and her new job affords her entry into an unimagined world of privilege. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik’s charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more.
All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something much darker…
A piercing, darkly funny debut, Natural Beauty explores questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity – and leaves readers with a shocking and unsettling truth.
Praise for Natural Beauty ‘A darkly absurd and hilarious skewering of the luxury beauty industry, as well as a heart-wrenching story of a woman left alone in the world’ Buzzfeed
‘The novel seamlessly blends sf, literary fiction, suspense, and body horror while also exploring the oppression of the beauty industry and the Chinese immigrant experience in America’ Booklist, starred review
‘Alternatingly poignant and deeply unsettling, this is an outstanding first outing for an immensely talented author’ Publishers Weekly, starred review
‘A propulsive, captivating read, Natural Beauty pulled me into its world like a fever dream’ Constance Wu, star of Crazy Rich Asians
‘Precise, unflinching, and utterly unforgettable, Natural Beauty is both a razor-sharp critique of the beauty industry and a startlingly tender story of family and sacrifice. This book will swallow you whole’ Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief
‘A modern-day Portrait of Dorian Gray shot through a Cronenburgian lens’ Nick Cutter, author of The Troop
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