Yellowface

An Asian author writing as a white writer who steals a manuscript from her recently deceased Asian writer friend and then sort of pretends to be Asian. Who comes up with that kind of brilliance? New York Times bestselling author R.F Kuang does. Written in the first person, Yellowface demonstrates how to tell a story from the protagonist/antagonist’s point of view in a way that is so endearing that it’s hard to know how to feel about the main character even though most of what she does is inherently wrong. The impressive trick Kuang pulls of is this: instead of completely hating Juniper (aka June), you end up empathizing with her to some degree – and that degree changes throughout the narrative.

I’ve always said that writing quality dialogue is hard but Kuang goes beyond nailing it – in fact, she nails both the dialogue and inner-dialogue. Instead of leaning into the questionable choices she makes, June addresses the reader like she’s pleading her case: “I know you won’t believe me, but there was never a moment when I thought to myself, I’m going to take this and make it mine.” It’s as if she wants the reader to side with her so she can let herself off the hook. “Is that justification enough for you? Or are you still convinced that I’m some racist thief?” And that’s only chapter three.

Reading about writers and writing in general is fascinating to me for obvious reasons and I felt June’s pain when she describes writing as “such a solitary activity.” She feels beat down by the whole process and I get that. No one can write for you. On another note, the intensity (and stakes of June’s choices) further escalate making for a story that is the definition of a page-turner. You feel for June and her constant toiling in Athena’s shadow but at the same time it’s clear that she is trying to convince the reader (and herself) that what she does is legit. She becomes her own brand, shines a line on the unfairness of publishing (I get that), and scrapes and clamors for every bit of success she is achieving at the expense of her reputation and the truth. “Author efforts have nothing to do with a book’s success. Bestsellers are chosen. Nothing you do matters. You just get to enjoy the perks along the way.” It’s snarky and cynical and not totally inaccurate.

Part of what makes the novel so compelling is June constantly talking herself into and out of everything. She grapples with what she should do and what she wants to do and then justifies her decisions. But as a reader you feel for her because she’s so damn lonely (her family does not understand her and she doesn’t really have any friends) and most people don’t deserve to feel that way.

A few topical/pop culture notes: As I was reading, I thought about the criticism Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, endured as a white woman writing in a Black voice and then the book is mentioned in chapter eight. I appreciate Kuang’s awareness on that. Also, social media plays an enormous role in this narrative which also demonstrates the author’s topical sensibility. “Twitter makes unqualified yet eager judges of us all.” At the end of chapter fifteen, June references Reese Witherspoon making tv shows out of books and on the cover of Yellowface is a Reese’s Book Club designation. It’s like the author manifested her!

Kuang’s novel is raw, real, sad, and honest which is why empathy exists for June even though it’s hard to decipher if she’s a protagonist or antagonist. The author understands how to portray someone who means well (to a degree) but is also deviant and feels she deserves something that is highly debatable. But her family is awful and she is faced with so much criticism that makes her (and the reader) start questioning her mental health. At the same time, June is observant, smart, and sometimes even funny. And other times she’s cringeworthy. Either way, writing a character with that many layers is a feat making Kuang very much deserving of that Reese’s Book Club designation.

Quotes:

“I’ve found that jealousy, to writers, feels more like fear.”

“Athena’s war epic sounds like an echo from the battlefield.”

“I think writing is fundamentally an exercise in empathy. Reading lets us live in someone else’s shoes. Literature builds bridges; it makes our world larger, not smaller.”

“The fate of a storyteller: We articulate what no one else can even parse. We give a name to the unthinkable.”

“It takes inhuman drive to hack it in publishing.” Yes.

“Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hurts too much. To stop writing would kill me.” Amen.

“Writing has formed the core of my identity since I was a child.” Mine too.

“A writer needs to be read. I want to move people’s hearts.”

“What more can we want as writers than such immortality? Don’t ghosts just want to be remembered?”

“Aren’t all the best novels borne from some madness, which is borne from truth?”