Yellowface
United States

Yellowface

by Rebecca F. Kuang

Society & Class Literary Fiction Contemporary Fiction Fiction 2023

Summary

How far would you go to become the writer you believe you deserve to be? June Hayward has spent years watching her university friend Athena Liu enjoy the literary success she desperately craves. When Athena dies unexpectedly, June steals her unpublished manuscript, makes a few changes, and publishes it under the ambiguous name Juniper Song. The novel becomes a sensation, bringing June fame, fortune, and the recognition she has always wanted. But as questions about authorship and cultural appropriation begin to surface, maintaining her carefully constructed identity becomes increasingly dangerous. With biting humour and escalating suspense, Yellowface exposes the darker side of the publishing industry, exploring racism, jealousy, literary ambition, and the ethics of telling stories that are not yours.

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Country
United States
North America
About the author
Rebecca F. Kuang
Rebecca F. Kuang

Rebecca F. Kuang, known professionally as R. F. Kuang, is a Chinese American novelist and scholar celebrated for her ambitious fiction exploring history, power, identity, and colonialism. Born in Guangzhou, China, in 1996, she immigrated to the United States with her family as a child. She studied international history at Georgetown University before earning an MPhil in Chinese Studies from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford. She is pursuing doctoral research in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University, focusing on diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature. Her debut novel, The Poppy War (2018), launched an acclaimed fantasy trilogy. Subsequent works include Babel (2022), Yellowface (2023), and Katabasis (2025). Her fiction has earned numerous honours, including the Nebula, Locus, and British Book Awards.

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Details
Published
2023
Author
Rebecca F. Kuang