The Chosen and the Beautiful
“A sumptuous, decadent read."
New York Times
An NPR Best Book of the Year
A BookRiot Pick of Best SFF Books of 2021
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
A Time Magazine Pick of Summer
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Pick of Summer's Best Books
A Bustle Pick of Summer Books
A Lambda Literary Selection for Summer
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Pick of the Month
An Indie Next List Pick of the Month
A BookPage Top Pick of the Month
Among longlisted titles for Time Magazine Best Books of the Year, 2021
Among longlisted titles for Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2021
Among longlisted titles for NPR Best Book of the Year, 2021
Among shortlisted titles for Locus Awards - Nominee
A Most Anticipated in 2021 Pick for Oprah Magazine | USA Today | Buzzfeed | Greatist | BookPage | PopSugar | The Nerd Daily | Goodreads | Literary Hub | Ms. Magazine | Library Journal
"Gatsby the way it should have been written-dark, dazzling, fantastical."-R. F. Kuang
"Luxurious, thrilling, and sexy."-Adrienne Celt
Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.
Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society-she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She's also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.
But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.
Nghi Vo's debut novel The Chosen and the Beautiful reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tordotcom
Praise