R.F. Kuang. Yellowface. Ebook download from TPL's "Libby." USA: HarperCollins, 2023.
Athena Liu is an astonishingly successful novelist while still in her twenties, with several bestsellers and recently a Netflix deal. She and June Hayward have pursued the same writing career, being convenient friends mainly by virtue of finding themselves in the same programs or locations. But June has a hard time as a newbie in the publishing world. Poor sales of her first book mean her publisher and her agent more or less ignore her. Her first-person narrative here addresses her readers, chronicling her ongoing experience. Sharing Athena's company ‒ who seems to have no other friends ‒ is superficial for June, but appreciated, as Athena's new wealth is generously dispensed on their social entertainment. Until—one night they actually have fun together and commit to a real friendship. Until—Athena chokes to death that same night, despite June's panicky attempts at a Heimlich manoeuvre.
Athena had given June her new manuscript to review. Even in her misery, June realizes she has a first-class book-in-the-making, a manuscript no one else knows about. Convincing herself that Athena would want it published, and that her motives are pure, June works long and hard to edit, add, and revise, submitting it under her own first names. The Last Front by Juniper Song is born (mom was a hippie) and the publishing world goes manic. After the usual time it takes for the physical book to exist, June is celebrating (and celebrated!), living the high life Athena once had. Then the inevitable detractors and haters arise (Twitter is the platform used here), to accuse June of: cultural appropriation, subverted racism, white supremacy, outright theft of Athena's work. It takes guts to withstand the vicious barrage; June's moods alternate with it, as does her reputation. Tracking down the main instigators brings no relief.
This is a one-shot plot: the inside workings and watchings of the publishing world, the agonizing of the writer, the different spin cycles one story can go through. Enlightening, I'm sure, in many ways; relentlessly depressing in others. June is thoroughly haunted by her dead friend. No subplots to distract the reader or provide a break. Go with the success and distress if you will.
An "off OF" writer.
Words
rhyzomatic = networking that allows multiple points in theory and research to come and go
cishet = a heterosexual who identifies with their birth gender
Bits
▪ It's hard, after all, to be friends with someone who outshines you at every turn. (7)
▪ "Quirky, aloof, and erudite" is Athena's brand. "Commercial and compulsively readable yet still exquisitely literary," I've decided will be mine. (47)
▪ Sensitivity readers are readers who provide cultural consulting and critiques on manuscripts for a fee. (68)
▪ "Critics build an audience by dragging others down. It's the only way they can legitimize themselves." (105)
▪ Athena never personally experienced suffering. She just got rich from it. (117)
▪ I stop my thoughts from spiraling out, just like Dr. Gaily taught me. It's the internet that's fucked, not me. (152)
▪ Reputations in publishing are built and destroyed, constantly, online. (159)
▪ Such is the nature of a Twitter dustup, allegations get flung left and right, everyone's reputations are torn down, and when the dust clears, everything remains exactly as it was. (179)
▪ She'd stolen my story. I was convinced of it. She'd stolen my words right out of my mouth. (210)
▪ I'll write about us. Well, no—a fictional version of us, a pseudo-autobiography in which I blur fact and fiction. (269)
▪ Athena's ghost has wormed its way into my every waking moment. (289)
▪ "Tell me, how long were you planning to steal her work? How accidental was her death, really?" (307)
Jane Harper. Exiles. Ebook download from TPL's Libby. USA: Flatiron Books, 2023.
Aaron Falk, Melbourne detective, is in Marralee Valley at festival time to become godfather to his friend Greg Raco's son. The Raco family vineyard, and the festival, are hubs for a wide network of childhood friends. Falk renews acquaintance with Greg's wife Rita, his brother Charlie, and Charlie's daughter Zara. Zara's mother Kim mysteriously disappeared during last year's festival; Zara has never given up hope that she is alive somewhere. For a long time Kim had been Charlie's on-again off-again partner, but latterly she was the wife of Rohan Gillespie and mother of their new baby girl. Greg gives Falk a tour of the environs, including the nearby reservoir where it's believed Kim jumped; her body was never found. Greg wants a new pair of eyes to review the known facts of Kim's timeline.
Being a guest of the Racos and meeting their friends is a warm experience for Falk, despite the sombre anniversary date. Some he has met before—indeed, he had met the attractive festival director Gemma once, thanks to a mix-up by Greg; the two strangers went on to enjoy an evening of drinks and dinner. Falk was mystified when Gemma put an abrupt end to the evening and a potential relationship, and hadn't talked with her since. As Falk is drawn into the minutiae of Kim's disappearance, he learns that Gemma's husband, Dean Tozer, died at the same reservoir spot five years ago—the sunny valley is not without a few dark shadows. A troublesome investigation around two deaths picks up speed, nominally under the aegis of local Sgt. Dwyer. So many questions, and not all may produce answers, in author Harper's style.
Harper's overall pacing is relaxed; she tantalizes with the beauty and joie de vivre atmosphere of Australia's wine country. Her characters are totally plausible ‒ many of them irresistible, IMO ‒ while they reflect on what could possibly have happened to Kim. The bonus is a touching love story entwining with two mysteries.
Bits
▪ The Racos were a police family, and the three brothers had grown up watching their dad oversee this very town as the long-standing local sergeant. (41)
▪ "So what are you thinking about all this? Something still to find?" (86, F to R)
▪ As he saw her now, Falk allowed himself to admit—completely silently and just to himself—that he'd been half looking for her all night. (94)
▪ "Do you want me to show you why none of this stuff about mum makes any sense?" (165)
▪ A distance both tiny and huge, across the arm of his chair, until his fingertips touched hers. A beat passed, then he felt a warm spark rush through him as she pressed back. (280)
▪ "You knew Kim," Charlie said, still gripping the man's hand. "You know she wouldn't. I might." A flicker of a smile. "But Kim would never." (303)
▪ "Gemma says the answer is around fifteen months before Kim disappeared." (354)
▪ "It was like she was gone before she was even gone." (356)
▪ "It's not like you're the type to get blackout drunk and go off with some bloke you can't remember." (386)
▪ This was the end of them, and she must know that as well. Charlie's baby. The party at the reservoir. (409)
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