'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.