Published in 2023
256 pages
Jade Song (she/they) is a writer, art director, and artist. Chlorine is her debut novel. Her writing has been nominated for numerous “best of” year anthologies and has appeared in Teen Vogue, Electric Literature, Waxwing, and elsewhere. Their art direction work has been awarded by and featured in The Shortys, SXSW, Campaign US, The Smarties, Advertising Week, Bustle, and AdAge, among others. She resides in Brooklyn and considers Pittsburgh and Beijing home too. They enjoy supporting their friends, walking aimlessly, and looking at paintings.
What is this book about?
In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a debut novel that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, told from an adult perspective on the trials and tribulations of growing up in a society that puts pressure on young women and their bodies… a powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.
Ren Yu is a swimmer. Her daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. If she swims well enough, she will be scouted, get a scholarship, go to a good school. Her parents will love her. Her coach will be kind to her. She will have a good life.
But these are human concerns. These are the concerns of those confined to land, those with legs. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Ones that called sailors to their doom. Ones that dragged them down and drowned them. Ones that feasted on their flesh. Ones of the creature that she’s always longed to become: mermaid.
Ren aches to be in the water. She dreams of the scent of chlorine–the feel of it on her skin. And she will do anything she can to make a life for herself where she can be free. No matter the pain. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter how much blood she has to spill.
