This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
Yellowface: A Novel by R.F. KuangPublication Date: May 16, 2023
Publisher: William Morrow / HarperCollins
Pages: 336
Goodreads
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Asian American
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis:
What’s the harm in a pseudonym? Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
REVIEW
Yellowface: A Novel is the first book I’ve read by R.F. Kuang. If any of her other books are as well-written as Yellowface, then this certainly won’t be my last. Firstly, I appreciate that the author chose to write about the publishing industry in a way that doesn’t glamorize it or present a false image of writers’ lives. Instead, she delves into the gritty reality and exposes the racist, xenophobic, and misogynistic aspects that exist within the publishing world. R.F. Kuang metaphorically ignites a fire by shedding light on these issues.
Listening to the main character, Juniper, attempt to justify her acts of plagiarism, identity theft, cultural appropriation, and outright fraud is both frustrating and enlightening. As someone who works in academia, I have encountered various forms of plagiarism over the years, and all of Juniper’s justifications are familiar excuses. It is disheartening and eye-opening to witness how far she is willing to go to maintain her facade, although not entirely surprising. She finally attains the success she always desired but could not achieve through her own mediocre abilities. She will cling to that success with unwavering determination.
Yellowface: A Novel effectively sheds light on the daily experiences of racism faced by people of colour (POC). It goes beyond overt racism, such as being subjected to slurs, and explores the more subtle and deeply ingrained forms of racism. POC are often introduced as the token friend of a particular race, face accusations of only being hired for diversity purposes, and have their feelings and experiences dismissed under the guise of “not everything is about race.” However, for POC, race is an integral part of their identity. It shapes their experiences, influences their perspectives, and affects how they are perceived and treated by others. The book delves into this weighty topic, and I appreciate not only that R.F. Kuang addresses it in Yellowface: A Novel but also how she addresses it.
