In “Yellowface,” R.F. Kuang satirizes the publishing industry with a tale of a struggling writer who passes off her recently deceased friend’s book as her own.
In “Yellowface,” R.F. Kuang draws on her own experiences to tackle issues like cultural appropriation and representation. “I hate the feeling of being read just because somebody’s trying to tick off a diversity check box,” she says.
Despite these heavy themes, Babel remains inherently readable. It is quick to attract the reader’s attention and then hold it captive, making it a very difficult book to put down.
Samantha Shannon, who recently released A Day of Fallen Night , the prequel to her 2019 work The Priory of the Orange Tree , speaks about the making of the novel, qualities she looks for in a fantasy novel, and the problem with the strong woman trope.
These books explore the idea that books can be much more than just inanimate objects. They can take on a transformative role in a story, transporting characters to magical places, inspiring us, and shaping the world itself.