Description

Instant New York Times Bestseller • A Reese’s Book Club Pick • Includes excerpt from the upcoming novel Katabasis!

“Hard to put down, harder to forget.” — Stephen King

Small lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences. June Hayward, writing under the name Juniper Song, is a literary sensation—but it’s all a lie. She didn’t actually write her breakthrough novel, she’s not the identity she claims to be, and she’s certainly not Asian American. From R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel, comes a chilling and bitingly funny novel about ambition, betrayal, and identity.

June Hayward and Athena Liu began as two gifted young writers, both on the brink of success. But Athena quickly became a literary darling praised for her insightful storytelling, leaving June a virtual unknown. June is convinced readers aren’t interested in the stories of an average white girl like herself.

After June witnesses Athena die in a tragic accident, she makes a spontaneous, life-altering decision: She steals Athena’s completed manuscript—an ambitious, experimental novel that shines a light on the erased history of Chinese laborers in World War I.

Editing the stolen novel and submitting it to her agent as her own, June reinvents herself as Juniper Song, adopting an intentionally vague persona meant to suggest an Asian American heritage. After all, shouldn’t such an important narrative be out in the world, no matter who shared it? That’s June’s justification, and the bestseller charts seem to confirm her decision.

Yet as June enjoys literary success and fame, Athena’s legacy looms large. Threatening secrets surface, putting June’s carefully constructed identity—and stolen literary empire—at risk. June desperately struggles to maintain her deception, discovering just how far she’s willing to go to keep what she believes she’s owed.

Written in a vivid, immersive first-person style, Yellowface explores race, privilege, and cultural appropriation with startling accuracy and biting wit, while capturing the disorienting and ruthless nature of modern social media. Brilliantly timely, fiercely relevant, and impossible to put down, Yellowface is R.F. Kuang at the height of her storytelling powers.