Reading Circle 82: ‚Yellowface‘ by Rebecca F. Kuang
05.02.2025
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
This month‘s novel is Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang, an American novelist, who has a degree in international economics and graduate degrees in Sinology from Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College, Oxford. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Yale University.
This book is Rebecca Kuang’s fifth novel, and her first foray into the genre of literary fiction. Her previous work was mainly fantasy novels.
The publisher’s description on the back of the novel reads:
„This is one hell of a story, it’s just not hers to tell. When failed writer June Hayward witnesses her rival Athena Liu die in a freak accident, she sees her opportunity….and takes it.
So what if it means stealing Athena’s final manuscript? So what if it means ´borrowing‘ her identity? And so what if the first lie is only the beginning? Finally, June has the fame she always deserved. But someone is about to expose her. What happens next is entirely everyone’s fault.“
Book recommendations from Reading Circle members
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer (2014) Cultural differences in communications in a globalised world. Man Kann Auch in Die Höhe Fallen by Joachim Mayerhoff. (2024) An entertaining biographical novel. In German. The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean by David Abulafia (2011): A history of the Mediterranean Sea since 22,000 BC to the present time. Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know by Mark Lilla (2024): An intellectual travelogue of the human will not to know. Who Owns Scotland? by Andy Wightman (1996): Designed to inform and provoke, this book analyses the history and politics of land reform in Scotland. Who Owns Scotland Now? Use and Abuse of Private Land by Auslam Cramb (1997): The influence of landowners in Scotland today. Raising Mentally Strong Kids by Daniel Amon and Charles Fay (2024): Practical tools for parents to help children of all ages overcome behavioural problems and reach their full potential. Bademeister Ohne Himmel by Petra Pellini (2024): Patients in mental decline, set in Bregenz, told with warmth and humour. In German. A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell (1935) : Dorothy experiences unemployment, poverty and hunger, and her faith is challenged by a social reality that changes her life. Sweet Caress by William Boyd (2015): Some of the most defining moments of modern history seen through the eyes of a young female photographer. Past Lying by Val McDermid – A Karen Pirie story about a cold case, set in pandemic-locked-down Edinburgh.Music played
1. Tango – Jealousy, by Jacob Gade
2. Jasmine Flower, a traditional Chinese piece, played by Lang Lang
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