In this terrifying and hilarious novel, Rebecca F. Kuang, author of the bestselling Babel, combines white lies, dark humor, and deadly consequences. Featuring a fictionalized heroine who didn't write the book that bears her name and is definitely not an Asian American, both authors strive for literary glory. However, Athena is, in fact, talented, while June is delusional, specializing in writing the same old stories about ordinary white girls. But when Athena dies in a freak accident, June makes a rash decision to attempt to steal Athena's masterpiece: an experimental novel about the little-known contributions of Chinese laborers in World War I. What happens when June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her literary agent as her own? And what if she allows her new publisher to publish it under the pseudonym "Junebear Song" with a portrait of a mysterious author of a different ethnicity? Wouldn't this part of history be worth telling, even if the narrator's name were changed? But June is haunted by the shadow of Athena, and emerging evidence threatens to pull the rug of stolen success out from under her feet. She struggles to protect her secret. How far will she go to keep what she believes is rightfully hers? Through the engaging use of the first-person pronoun, this novel grapples with issues of difference, racism, cultural appropriation, and the terrifying alienation provoked by social media. It's contemporary, entertaining, and absolutely brilliant.