Book Review: Yellowface - Rebecca F. Kuang

This is a fucking audacious thriller! I literally stayed up way past my bedtime, tearing through the chapters, gasping out loud.

The core of the story is simple - a woman steals her dead friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own. Will she get caught? The hook (for want of a better term) is that the plagiarist is white and the original author is Asian-American.

It's often said that most racists don't perceive themselves to be racist. Because the book is told from the point-of-view of the thief, Juniper, we get to experience first-hand the banality of her racist outlook. It's subtle at first, gradually ramping up, and then exposing her. The journey she goes on, and the depths she plummets to, are genuinely shocking.

What surprised me most is that the writing isn't entirely unsympathetic to the protagonist. Some of Juniper's actions seem, in context, perfectly reasonable. Her self-justification challenges the reader to ask if they would make different choices in the same circumstances. It is almost cruel the way Kuang lets her creation wallow in self-pity. Almost.

The unspeakable acts of cruelty are egged on by the tyranny of the online mob. Again, Kuang has the knack of making us question where our sympathies lie. The Twitteratti are frenetic in their conviction that Juniper is a plagiarist - but they have no proof. As it happens, they are correct, but they don't know it. Do you stand with the wise old heads who try to stay aloof from the drama? Do you chase after the thrill of destroying your enemies? Social Justice without Fact-Finding is exploitative. Does it matter if the mob are right, but for the wrong reasons?

There's a delightful meta-narrative going on. Is it acceptable for a non-Asian person to write about the experiences of the Asian community? If not, is it acceptable for Kuang to don the mantle of a mediocre white woman and write a mean-spirited caricature of her? I'm not sure I want to wade in on that!

There's no doubt that Kuang's writing is powerful enough to tackle any subject she wants. It's fast paced, incisive, and full of wickedly devious characters. Perfect!