Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu weresupposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Haywardis literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena’s death ina freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finishedmasterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chineselaborers during World War I.So what if June edits Athena’s novel andsends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisherrebrand 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’swhat June claims, and the NewYork Times bestseller list seems to agree.But June can’t get away from Athena’sshadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success downaround her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how farshe will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
With its totally immersive first-personvoice, Yellowface grappleswith questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as theterrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely,razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
