Author(s): Ling Ling Huang

General Fiction

Our narrator is the youngest student at the Conservatory. She produces a sound from the piano no one else does, employing a special technique she learned from her parents - also stunningly talented musicians - who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future as a pianist and accepts a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and outrageous procedures: remoras that suck cheap Botox from the body, eyelash extensions made of spider silk, emotional support ducklings bred to imprint on their owners. Every product is ethically sourced and made with nothing but the highest quality ingredients. Our narrator's new job is a coveted one among New York's beauty-obsessed, and it affords her entry into a new world of privilege. She becomes transfixed by Helen - a model, and the niece of Holistik's charismatic owner - and the two strike up a close friendship.

Matilda Bookshop Review

After a personal tragedy, our unnamed protagonist exchanges the rigorous training of a concert pianist for the equally extreme self regulation required of a beauty consultant at exclusive Holistik Spa. Naturally disciplined, she assimilates too easily into this world of spider-silk eyelash implants and leopard slug facials, with its hyper fixation on aesthetics and horrendously ugly underbelly.

Natural Beauty is an intelligently written book with sharp commentary regarding subjects such as the immigrant experience and commodification of bodies, but what struck me most was its fresh style. Huang’s writing perfectly straddles the line between genuinely chilling body horror and gleeful camp. I intend this as high praise! This is a bright thrill of a book, a perversely enjoyable read! Emilie