June Hayward, an unsuccessful young author, finds herself the only witness to the death of her former classmate and casual friend, Athena Liu, a Chinese-American author who is an industry darling …
Introduction to the author and book
Rebecca F. Kuang (born May 29, 1996) is an American novelist. Born in Guangzhou, she immigrated to the United States with her family when she was four years old. Her father grew up in Hunan province, and her mother grew up in Hainan province. Her maternal grandfather fought for Chiang Kai-shek. Her father’s family experienced the Japanese occupation of Hunan.
Kuang grew up in Dallas, holds an undergraduate degree in international economics with a minor in Asian Studies from Georgetown University and graduate degrees in Sinology from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and University College, Oxford, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Yale University.
Her first novel, The Poppy War, was released in 2018, followed by the sequels, The Dragon Republic, in 2019, and The Burning God in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence in 2022 which debuted at the first spot on The New York Times Best Seller list, and won the Blackwell’s Book of the Year for Fiction in 2022 along with the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Yellowface, is Kuang’s latest release, a satirical novel, published in 2023. The title of the novel refers to the film industry practice in which white actors are used to portray Asian characters, analogously to blackface, in which white actors use makeup to portray black or African characters.
Publisher, William Morrow and Company, stated in a press release that Yellowface follows “a white author who steals an unpublished manuscript, written by a more successful Asian American novelist who died in a freak accident, and publishes it as her own”.
This book is Kuang’s first foray into the literary fiction genre. Writing in the “Acknowledgement” section of the book, Kuang considers her book a “horror story about loneliness in a fiercely competitive industry.”
The reviewer for National Public Radio called the book “a well-executed, gripping, fast-paced novel about the nuances of the publishing world when an author is desperate enough to do anything for success.”
A reviewer in the New York Times wrote that the novel is “a breezy and propulsive read, a satirical literary thriller that’s enjoyable and uncomfortable in equal measure.”
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.
Reviewers say:
‘Wickedly funny’ EVENING STANDARD
‘A firecracker of a book’ i PAPER
‘Darkly hilarious’ MARIE CLAIRE
‘Uncomfortable and addictive … a must-read’ INDEPENDENT
‘A clever, pacy tale’ SARA PASCOE
‘Darkly comic’ GQ
‘A wicked little satire of publishing, racial politics and icky internet culture’ THE TIMES, Best Summer Reads
‘Utterly diverting’ FINANCIAL TIMES
‘Unforgettable’ WOMAN & HOME
‘Bright and witty and sly … fabulous’ RUSSELL T DAVIES
What do you think of this novel?
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Vicki James & Helen Sinclair
The next book for April 25 will be …
“Little Egypt” by Lesley Glaister (published 2015 – 294 pages. Amazon 4*)
Winner 2014 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. ‘Crime writing of the highest order, creepy … with satisfying fits of the shivers’. (Sunday Times)
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