Rebecca F. Kuang on the Power of Female Jealousy and How Living With Grief Has Inspired Her Latest Book

Yellowface author Rebecca F. Kuang joins Vick in the Bookshelfie studio to discuss her five favourite books by women, why Sylvia Plath’s diaries made her rethink female jealousy, and how losing her grandfather served as inspiration for her latest novel, Taipei Story.

A trailblazing talent whose literary career has unfolded at an extraordinary pace, Rebecca is the #1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of Katabasis, Babel and global phenomenon Yellowface. She has won multiple awards including Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards – twice! A Marshall Scholar, she has a masters in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and another in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature. Her new novel, Taipei Story, a profoundly moving coming-of-age story exploring first love, grief and cultural belonging, is out now.

Rebecca’s book choices are:

12:45 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

20:19 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

30:27 The Tenth Muse by Catherine Chung

42:15 Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

50:11 Possession by A.S. Byatt

You can buy all books mentioned from our dedicated shelf on Bookshop.org  – every purchase supports the work of the Women's Prize Trust and independent bookshops.

Every week on Bookshelfie, Vick Hope is joined by inspirational women to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women’s Prize for Fiction, the greatest celebration of female creativity in the world, is run by the Women’s Prize Trust, the charity building a better future by championing women’s writing.

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