never judge a lady by her cover read online

The beauty and irony of this conversation is that Kuang herself is an Asian writer telling this story through the eyes of a white writer. Can a Black writer not write a novel with a white protagonist?' She responds, 'I think it's dangerous to start censoring what authors should and shouldn't write.I mean, turn what you're saying around and see how it sounds. In one scene, June is challenged by a Chinese American reader on why she thinks it's okay to write and profit from painful Chinese history. The topic of cultural appropriation galvanizes the entire story and at various angles challenges the idea of what kind of stories writers are allowed to write given their race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

The story is a multi-layer, complex conversation that tackles a few things about the publishing industry at once. Not only does she face accusations of theft and plagiarism, but the optics of a white woman possibly profiting off the work of an Asian woman also create a platform for accusations of racism and 'yellowface.' By now, I mostly believe the lie myself,' June tries to convince herself more than halfway through the novel. In the face of it all, I've never once cracked, never admitted the theft to anyone. 'That's been the key to staying sane throughout all of this: holding the line, maintaining my innocence. Throughout the novel, Juniper 'June' Hayward, publishing as Juniper Song, works to maintain the lie that her first big hit novel The Last Front, a story about Chinese workers in the British Army during WWI, is indeed her work and her work only. Yellowface is about a young white author who steals the manuscript of her dead Asian friend, finishes it, and publishes it as her own.

What would you do for something you think you need badly? That promotion? That new shoes? That spot in an Ivy League college? That book deal? That next hit project? What happens when your entire identity becomes embroiled in your job - who is a writer if they're unable to write and publish? This is what Kuang's protagonist, June, faces in this novel. In a climate where the publishing industry is being highly scrutinized for its gatekeeping, unfair treatment of marginalized writers and editors, its role in appropriation - we all remember the 'Bad Art Friend' saga - and more, Kuang's novel is a strong commentary on the exploitation and rigors writers face under the pressure to be successful. The highly immersive satirical novel takes us on a thrilling journey through the eyes of a writer who struggles to make her own way in the cut-throat world of publishing. Every once in a while there is a novel that enters the literary zeitgeist and requires discourse - but it feels like there is nothing that can be written or said that will ever do it justice.

Never judge a lady by her cover read online