Yellowface

Yellowface captures a razor-sharp, satirical thriller about ambition, cultural appropriation, and the toxic obsession with literary success in the modern publishing industry. In R.F. Kuang's bestselling novel, Yellowface begins when failed author June Hayward watches her immensely talented, Asian-American rival Athena Liu die in a freak choking accident. Seizing a moment of dark opportunism, June steals Athena's finished, unpublished manuscript about Chinese laborers during World War I, polishing and publishing it under a racially ambiguous pseudonym, Juniper Song, to avoid suspicion.

As Yellowface explodes into a global publishing phenomenon, June is suddenly showered with the fame, wealth, and validation she always believed she deserved. However, her dream life quickly spirals into a harrowing psychological nightmare as social media trolls, anonymous threats, and lingering pieces of evidence threaten to unravel her elaborate web of lies. To protect her stolen identity, June must double down on her deception, revealing the terrifying lengths to which an insecure writer will go to maintain relevance. Ultimately, Yellowface serves as a biting commentary on systemic bias, white privilege, and the fierce battle for ownership of marginalized stories in contemporary culture.