Song, Jade: Chlorine

‘This fantastically strange, explosive debut novel entrances even as it unsettles. It’s so brilliantly written’
BUZZFEED

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. The concerns of those confined to land. Ren grew up on stories of creatures of the deep, of the oceans and the rivers. Stories that called sailors to their doom. Stories that dragged them down and drowned them. Stories of the creature that she’s always longed to become: a 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.

In the vein of The Pisces and The Vegetarian, Chlorine is a powerful, relevant tale of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.

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Song’s harrowing novel subverts the standards of merfolk lore‘ – New York Times

‘This fantastically strange, explosive debut novel entrances even as it unsettles. It’s so brilliantly written‘ – Buzzfeed

‘A coming-of-age story with a touch of mystery and myth‘ – The Economist

‘Jade Song’s razor-sharp voice cuts through their debut, a deep-dive into the messy business of teen obsession’ – Nadia Attia, author of VERGE

‘Chlorine is a song of the deep. Deep obsession. Deep water. Deep yearning for a body where magic takes place. A story of longing and transcendence, Chlorine will take you on a journey you didn’t expect‘ – Caroline Hardaker, author of COMPOSITE CREATURES and MOTHTOWN

‘This book was viscerally unnerving and I could not put it down‘ – Sarah Gailey, author of THE ECHO WIFE

About the Author
Jade Song is an artist, art director, and writer. Their stories and essays have appeared in Teen Vogue, Electric Literature, and various literary magazines. Chlorine is her debut novel. They reside in New York.