Yellowface

Autor: R.F. Kuang

The story centers on June Hayward, a struggling white author, and Athena Liu, a wildly successful Chinese American author and June’s college acquaintance. While celebrating at Athena’s apartment, June witnesses Athena choke to death in a freak accident. Acting on impulse, June steals Athena’s finished, unpublished manuscript: an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of the Chinese Labour Corps during World War I. June edits the manuscript, passes it off as her own work, and uses the ambiguously ethnic pseudonym Juniper Song, complete with an ambiguous author photo. The book, titled The Last Front, becomes a runaway bestseller. As June navigates her sudden fame, she is haunted by Athena’s shadow (sometimes literally), and online accusations begin to mount, threatening to expose her plagiarism and force her to confront the ethical consequences of her actions.