R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface

Makayla Kocher

“And for all the work I put into it, all those hours of effort—why shouldn’t it be my name on the title?”

“The truth is fluid. There is always another way to spin the story, another wrench to throw into the narrative. I have learned this now, if nothing else.”

R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface immerses its readers in an all-too-realistic yet unbelievable narrative that is as gripping as it is thought-provoking, questioning authorship, cultural identity, and more.

The novel follows June Hayward, a not-so-successful author who dreams of hitting it big like

her fellow Yale graduate, Athena Liu. Unlike June, Athena’s debut novel lands her a book deal that launches her career. Athena’s success, beauty, riches, and charm are all June wants. Athena and June have known each other since their first year at Yale, while their friendship remains fairly surface-level. However, the two seem to remain connected. Athena invites June to celebration after celebration, until one night when the two are at Athena’s apartment and unexpectedly chokes to death. Afterward, June leaves Athena in a daze, but she doesn’t leave alone—she takes a draft of Athena’s work-in-progress, The Last Front. June eventually returns to this draft, reading and then writing, blending her voice with Athena’s. June pitches this novel as her own. Her new publishing house rebrands her as Juniper Song, author of The Last Front. This historical epic examines the Chinese Labor Corps in World War I. At the same time, June’s success sky rocks, and the truth—guised as Athena’s ghost—follows June at every turn. June, a white woman writing under a racially ambiguous name, gains success from the death of her Chinese-American colleague and friend.

Kaung pulls back the screen, revealing some of the realities of the publishing industry that have long been speculative—she gives voice to these speculations and much more. This book is at once compelling in its conversations and themes of the realities of navigating the publishing industry and thought-provoking in the questions it brings up about race, diversity, and cultural appropriation. Kaung’s intentionality in making June ‘feel’ real is especially noted with the decision to dedicate space in the story/text for streams of social media posts, conversations, and feeds. Suppose you have ever, even minutely, engaged with social media. In that case, these scenes are easily relatable, not necessarily on the level of X or from the perspective of Junes but from that of the commentator/participator. It prompts readers to think more deeply about their presence on social media and how even the smallest of comments can have an impact.

I loved the narrative arc of this story, and the ending left me with a shiver. I continue to wonder what could happen next in the story of June Hayward (Juniper Song) and the lingering presence of Athena’s ghost. This is a book for anyone interested in getting a glimpse into the good and bad of the publishing industry and those interested in being pushed to think intentionally about their presence in the written word, authorship, and the undercurrent of racism/cultural appropriation that exist not only in the publishing industry but in all spaces of society. Yellowface is a gripping novel that will make readers uncomfortable while captivating them with each page turn.