Catherine Cheng is the author of Whitefish, a literary horror debut coming out in Fall 2027 with Flatiron Books and Hodder & Stoughton.

A woman with long dark hair smiling outdoors in a green mountainous area, wearing a pink puffer jacket over a blue and white striped dress.

Catherine Cheng is a Chinese-American author who currently lives in New York City. When she isn’t daydreaming about what to write next, she is probably listening to sad girl love songs through wired earphones. She also has two cats named Tofu and Yogurt, who are incredibly relevant to her writing process. Whitefish is her debut novel.

She is represented by Maddy Belton at Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV, and Film Agency.

Coming Fall 2027

Whitefish

For fans of Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and Mark Mylod’s film The Menu, this stunning literary horror, with a satirical edge, is a delightfully dark journey through desire and greed that begs to be talked about.

You are invited to À La Belle Étoile.

Head Chef Jun Li keeps a mermaid in a run-down Morningside Heights bathroom, where he carves him up, piece by piece, at the behest of the wealthy Winslow family who funded his rise from his parents’ Flushing restaurant to Michelin-starred chef.

As he butchers to satisfy the family’s increasingly voracious appetite, the neurotoxic flesh drives the family toward paranoia, sexual obsession, and madness, while an unsettling intimacy blooms between chef and ingredient. Jun must decide how much of himself—and his captive—he’s willing to sacrifice to prove he belongs among Manhattan’s gilded elite, all with a second Michelin star hanging in the balance.

Turn the page for an unforgettable dining experience.

Set against New York’s cutthroat fine dining scene and the toxic glamour of the Upper East Side, combining the class critique of Parasite (Bong Joon Ho) with the forbidden desire of The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro), Whitefish is both grounded and eerie. Each reveal from the Winslow family is as fascinating as it is disturbing and the result is a book that sinks its teeth into you.

“It was exquisite. And wrong. Like putting your mouth on something still alive.”

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Other Projects

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A collage of nine images including: floating white masks in a dark setting, a nighttime sky with clouds and a crescent moon, a woman with dark hair under a veil, a glowing blue hand reaching out, a person writing calligraphy, a hand with lace gloves on black fabric, a person with short hair surrounded by flowers, two glowing butterflies, and a woman with skull-like makeup holding flowers.
Collage of black and white and color images featuring women, a man in a suit, city buildings, and artistic drawings of female faces with expressive eyes, some with tears or blushing, and a person walking down a hallway, along with a notebook labeled "Girl Boss."
Collage of black and white images including a woman with long hair, roses, a vintage funeral setting, a woman lying in a bed, a forest scene, and a person with sunglasses and headphones. Texts overlayed: "YOUR NAME IS" and a paragraph about emotional connection, with the word "ALICE" at the bottom.
A collage of nine images with different artistic styles, including silhouettes, clouds, butterflies, human faces, and text. The text includes the words "PROGRESS" and "THE END."
Collage of nine photos featuring a woman and nature elements such as water lilies, leaves, and water, with text 'Paradise is a woman'.
A collage of nine images including close-ups of hands, flowers, water with butterflies, and a woman with a poetic quote about love and the sea.