Yellowface
Summary
June Hayward, overshadowed by the success of fellow author Athena Liu, seizes a chance to escape obscurity when she witnesses Athena’s accidental death. She steals Athena’s completed novel about the forgotten contributions of Chinese laborers in World War I, edits it, and passes it off as her own under the name Juniper Song, even adopting a more ethnically ambiguous persona. As the novel climbs the bestseller list, June enjoys her newfound success but finds herself haunted by Athena’s legacy. When evidence of her deception begins to surface, June becomes increasingly desperate to protect her secret and the success she believes she’s earned.
Yellowface written by the much-celebrated author R.F. Kuang, is a provocative novel that sheds light on the intricacies of identity, authorship, and cultural appropriation within the literary world. Kuang, known for her critically acclaimed Poppy War trilogy and her 2022 novel, Babel, shifts gears with this contemporary satire, exposing publishing industry’s darker sides. A lot more than writing goes into publishing a book and all these elements have been conveniently hiding behind curtains exposed to only those persistent about getting any good work of literature out. This is the crux of Kuang’s novel and she spares nothing and noone !
June Hayward, the central character of the story, is a writer whose career is close to stagnant, while her friend, Athena Liu, is enjoying starling success. The story takes a turn when Athena dies in a tragic accident choking on a pancake. That’s right. On a damn pancake! And June takes the easy opportunity to steal her unpublished manuscript, reworking it and publishing it as her own under the pseudonym Juniper Song. The narrative follows June’s rapid and rampant success in the literary world, although tainted by her deception and the ramifications of her theft. Kuang explores the consequences of June’s actions, highlighting the biases in the publishing industry, racism towards authors of color, internal deceits, corruption, white privilege, the role of social media, and the exploitation of underrepresented writers.
The central figure in this book – June Hayward – is a deeply flawed character whose moral ambiguity drives the narrative. Her insecurities and justifications for her actions provide a raw and honest portrayal of ambition and desperation. Kuang attempts to paint a realistic character through her—someone selfish and self-absorbent who manipulates her way through. However, there comes no salvation for the dead author in terms of redemption or retribution.
Athena Liu, though deceased, remains a pivotal character whose presence is felt throughout the story. Her talent, charisma, and cultural significance contrast sharply with June’s mediocrity and questionable ethics. Athena Liu wasn’t the best person either, meddling with people lives and their secrets but she was no June Hayward. It’s easier to fall for Athena than June in this story simply because of the way June’s character is portrayed – selfish, spiteful, self-pitying, and sly. The supporting characters; including June’s editor and various industry figures, are well-developed and contribute to the novel’s critique of the publishing world. Each character represents different perspectives on issues such as race, authorship, and cultural integrity.
Yellowface is set primarily within the bustling, high-stakes, capitalist, and unforgiving environment of the New York publishing scene. Kuang depicts the various facets of the literary world—from the glitzy book launches and literary festivals to secluded places of introspection and writing along with the bias and racism that lurks around. The settings serve not just as backdrops but as active elements that shape the characters’ experiences and the unfolding drama. Through the settings, Kuang questions how even the most popular city of the world can betray you if you belong to a marginal community.
Although Kuang’s writing in Yellowface is fast-paced, the book is layered and tends to follow a very predictable pattern. Most of the book is a social compendium of sorts capturing in great detail Meta and Twitter’s discourse in a trying and failing social commentary style. The dialogue laden with contempt, humor, satire, and over-confidence, self-patronizing and rationalizing, is particularly annoying after a point, appearing more as the author’s own stance in life as an author rather than jus the character. It isn’t hard to notice that it’s written more as her own tale and trials as an author, and it’s in fact the author dishing out dirt at every and any possible identity within the publishing ecosystem. The book also feels lengthier than needed given most of the middle of the book is plain jane Twitter chats, email exchanges, Meta posts, etc. highlighting how persistently unstable and uneasy Hayward keeps feeling. It’s her constant state of mind that begets more drudgery rendering the story cliched, wearisome, and unworthy of your time. The end of the book was a disappointment like never before. It’s pretty clear just like her character Hayward, Kuang had no idea how to end it all!
Yellowface is overhyped, exploitative, unworthy, and evitable. Read it only if stories with unreliable and unethical flawed characters, predictable fast-paced plots with dark humor, interest you. Don’t read it because everyone is. It also is sharp, satirical, stimulating, and everything a thriller should be; lest the lacks or the overdone bits. Read it to understand the modus operandi of the publishing industry. For aspiring authors, it’s a must-read.
Author Profile
Rebecca F. Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, among others. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.
Have you read ‘Yellowface’? What did you think?
