Ada

In a world where women are constantly forced to confront what they hate about themselves most, Wang makes the task grotesquely literal in this razor-sharp debut...

As Manhattan teeters on the brink of war, Madeleine can’t figure out why she, the most clever and interesting person in the world, has no friends. She spends the days seething at her desk—rejected by her brainless colleagues in the marketing department, by her gorgeous boss, by her own mother, even, who, on her death bed, still finds ways to twist the knife.

Everything changes when Madeleine discovers Project A.D.A. Her cosmeceutical company has been spearheading a secret government cloning program, and they need volunteers. Who better than Madeleine to be the trial subject? In theory, it’s a perfect opportunity for the ultimate best friend: herself.

Stuck with only each other, though, Madeleine and her clone fall into a whirlpool of envy and mania. Madeleine must soon decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for her sister-daughter’s happiness. Told with biting prose, Ada explores the grisly, gory places loneliness takes us.