Wow! Irony heaped upon irony here in R.F. Kuang's latest novel Yellowface (#1,138). The book world is abuzz over this brutal sendup of what it takes to get a book onto the bestseller list. This book has it all; racism, tokenism, hubris and just general bad behavior. So what else is new in fiction?
The basic premise is that white (unsuccessful) writer June Heyward is celebrating (?) the success of her college classmate Athena Liu's best seller when Athena dies in front of her. What no one knows is that Athena has just completed her latest novel and the manuscript is right there, in the apartment! Athena was never one to discuss her works in progress, so it's easy enough for June to pick up the manuscript and pass it off as her own, to acclaim all around. But how long can she sustain the charade, especially when her own work is finally getting the recognition it deserves?
Even book bloggers like me get their lumps in this one!
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