Literary Fiction

Second Nature

13 April 2027 · United States

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Why it is on our radar

Huang follows Natural Beauty and Immaculate Conception with another invented social order. The focus on a boy’s faith and awakening desire gives this novel its central tension.

About the book

Bodie grows up in the Veil, a secluded society governed by women and devoted to a female deity. His affection for another boy unsettles what he has been taught. As a mysterious adulthood ritual approaches, questions about his community become questions of survival.