Ling Ling Huang in Conversation With Chelsea Bieker

From Ling Ling Huang — author of Natural Beauty — comes Immaculate Conception (Dutton), a novel set in the fiercely competitive art world about an obsessive friendship upended by a cutting-edge technology purported to enhance empathy and connection. Enka meets Mathilde in art school. Mathilde is a dizzyingly talented yet tortured artist whose star is on the rise — and Enka, struggling to make art that feels original, is immediately drawn to her. The two strike up a close friendship that soon turns codependent. But when Mathilde’s fame reaches new heights, Enka becomes desperate to keep her best friend close — no matter the cost. Enka quickly falls in love with and marries a billionaire whose family’s company is funding a technology that could allow someone else to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and absorb the trauma from her brain. Soon, the boundaries between Mathilde and Enka begin to blur even further, setting in motion a haunting series of events that forever change their lives. Blisteringly smart, thought-provoking, and shocking, Immaculate Conception deftly navigates big questions of art, technology, authorship, and what makes us human. Huang offers us a portrait of close friendship — achingly tender and twisted — that captures the tenuous line between love and possession, and that will haunt you long after you turn the final page. Huang will be joined in conversation by Chelsea Bieker, author of Madwoman.