Natural Beauty: A Novel ~ SIGNED FIRST/FIRST

New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. Brand new, never read. SIGNED FIRST EDITION, first printing stated. Personally signed beneath her crossed out name directly to the full title page. Not a tip in. Not a bookplate. Dust jacket hand covered in protective archival grade Mylar for many worry free years of reading/collecting! Photos available upon request. Book signed during author s event in Seattle, WA., her first. Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost. Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents also talented musicians 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 in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and gives her a long-awaited sense of belonging. 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 sinister. 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.