For many, R F Kuang's "Babel" was one of their favourites books of 2022, with it being named Blackwell's Book of the Year for Fiction. And the author follows up the success with "Yellowface".
Yet again, Kuang expertly plays with satire and nuance. And her latest release examines and investigates what happens when greed, ambition, and white privilege combine and combust in the publishing industry. "Yellowface" asksnwhat would you steal for success? Someone's face, their name, or what about their skin? When Athena Liu, a literary darling and critical success dies, June Hayward, who didn't even get a paperback release of her first novel, takes Athena's just-finished manuscript and passes it off as her own. The only issue is that the novel is about "the unsung contributions of Chinese labourers to the British and French war efforts during World War I", and June is most definitely not Asian-American. Just how far will June go to protect her secret.
Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang is out on 25 May (£13.19)