I first came across R F Kuang with last year\u2019s very enjoyable Babel<\/em>, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yellowface<\/a><\/em> is very different, but no less enjoyable. It\u2019s a book about books, and in particular, the publishing industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our protagonist is June Hayward, a would be novelist who\u2019s previous book did not set the world on fire. Meanwhile her friend, Athena Liu has it all going. She\u2019s been published with enormous success, has a Netflix series coming and is generally adored by the publishing world and readers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayward is, of course, insanely jealous at this turn of events. But she\u2019s still a friend, and one evening, when they\u2019re back in Liu\u2019s apartment, tragedy strikes and Liu chokes to death. However, it turns out that Liu has a new book in the works \u2013 one that she has not yet told anyone about, including her publishers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hayward takes the manuscript during the melee, and so goes down a road that she is unable to turn away from. She takes the draft and decides to edit it and take\u2026 co-ownership? Full ownership?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s racial imperative here too. While Hayward is white, her deceased friend was Chinese-American, and furthermore, the story Liu is telling is about Chinese labourers during the First World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What follows is a breezy look at the contemporary world of publishing, cultural appropriation, race and politics. You certainly get the feeling that Kuang has been here, and she grasps with some of the challenges faced. When June adopts \u201cJuniper\u201d has her first name, that might<\/em> imply that she is Asian especially when mixed with photos that leave the viewer unclear as to her race. Of course Kuang is herself writing about a white woman, and indeed has spoken<\/a> of the right of authors to write characters of other races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n