Speculative Subversions

Nghi Vo

A nightmare of manners, razor-sharp subversion of romance tropes, and alchemical fusion of history and fantasy all at once, Nghi Vo’s new novel The Scarlet Ball does for Edith Wharton what her acclaimed debut The Chosen and the Beautiful did for F. Scott Fitzgerald—it reimagines a classic work of literature for contemporary. Vo’s protagonist here is a former convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief on the lookout for her next identity. The daughter of a Vietnamese adventuress and a French naval officer, she’s no stranger to risk, but she’s unprepared for the demonic secret societies of New York’s powerful elite, and must literally take the face of a white, rich woman to survive. The Hugo Award-winning Vo’s blend of atmospheric prose and social critique hits new heights in this deft reimagining of the Gilded Age for our times.

About the Author

Nghi Vo is the USA Today bestselling author of Siren Queen, The Chosen and the Beautiful, Don’t Sleep with the Dead, and The City in Glass, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Locus, and Lambda Literary Awards and the LA Times and Ursula K. Le Guin Prizes, and has won the Crawford, Ignyte, and Hugo Awards. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.