Yellowface

June is once again accused of stealing Athena’s work, but unlike last time, there is real evidence. June used the paragraph she found in Athena’s notes to begin her story, and some in the literary community recognize it because Athena workshopped it publicly years prior. Multiple people have come forth with copies of it from the workshop and have signed their names to its authenticity. Unlike the last time the accusations surfaced, people abandon June quickly. Her mentee, Emmy, refuses to meet with her again, and even Eden’s Angels ignore June’s texts. June finally deactivates her social media accounts in shame and ignores her team from Eden Press for as long as she can.

When she finally Zooms with her agent, Brett, and the rest of the Eden team, June says that she did take this paragraph, but The Last Front is her original work. After doubling down on her lie, June is surprised that Eden is not going to drop her. She discovers that the controversy has pushed up sales as right-wing readers have sided with her on topics such as free speech and censorship. Despite the negatives of the situation, June is bringing in money for Eden, meaning that they will do what they can to protect her while she works on a new and original project. June is also notified by Athena’s mother that one of her detractors, Adele Sparks-Soto, has requested to view Athena’s notes. June once again commits to her lies, and Athena’s mother decides to believe her and keep the notes private.

June is still profiting from the books she has published, but her public image is ruined. She is popular among right-wing pundits but she avoids acknowledging them. She desperately tries to find inspiration for her next project but can only think of Chinese-inspired stories. She tries venturing out into the city to find inspiration in everyday life but keeps coming back to the same topics. In an attempt to be more authentic in her storytelling, June ventures to Chinatown and visits a soup-dumpling restaurant where she attempts to strike up a conversation with an employee. The entire time she is there she imagines different narratives that could fit the man’s life. A server stops the conversation, however, mistrusting June’s interest in him. When the server recognizes June, she asks her to leave, refusing to refund her lunch and declaring that she wants nothing to do with whatever June is doing.

Brett, whose confidence in June is failing, reaches out with a new kind of opportunity for her. He has spoken with a company about having June do some intellectual property work, meaning that she will write for the market, crafting narratives that suit readers’ desires. She is being offered the chance to write a story about China’s One Child Policy. The twist is that it is set in a Handmaid’s Tale-style dystopia. June scoffs at the idea, believing that intellectual property work is meant for mediocre writers and that the pitch itself is ridiculous. Offended by the offer, June turns it down.

June heads to Boston to teach high school students at a Young AAPI Writers’ Workshop. It is being funded and organized by the same organization to which June donates for Athena’s scholarship. On her first day, she gets to know the students and enjoys working with them. They are creative and eager for her approval. Later that night, she sees them in a café working on their homework together. She realizes that she misses creative collaboration; her own writing has become a practice in isolation.

The next day, June is late for class and walks in on the students gossiping about June’s plagiarism scandal. Instead of owning it and possibly earning their respect, June decides to embarrass them. She singles out Skylar, whose computer the students had been huddled around, and rips the girl’s story apart. She encourages the other students to do the same, and the entire exercise leaves Skylar close to tears. June knows that she has crossed a line but cannot stop herself from enjoying the experience. After the students leave, June researches the article they had been reading. She discovers that it was written by Candice Lee, the editorial assistant from Eden Press. Candice doesn’t present any new evidence in the article, assuaging some of June’s fear, and seems to have taken a new job at a very small publisher in Oregon. This demotion thrills June, who sees it as cosmic justice.

Later that day, June receives a call from Peggy Chan, the coordinator for the workshop. Peggy is concerned about the account she received from students about the class and reminds June that these are young, easily influenced children. June pushes back, saying that they need to be able to take criticism, but when Peggy pushes for an in-person meeting, June lies, saying that her mother is ill and that she must leave. Peggy does not challenge this, and June makes her escape with ease.

On her way back to Washington DC, June stops in Philadelphia to visit her mother, whom she rarely sees. June is uncomfortable with her mother’s lack of support for her profession. Upon her arrival, June learns that her mother is selling the house and moving to Florida. This gives June the opportunity to go through her old room, where she finds her old journals. Over the course of the afternoon, June becomes lost in her old writing, reminiscing about times when writing was a joy for her and laments how toxic it is now. She also rages at the publishing industry and its indifference to her debut novel, claiming that “no one cares about the inner musings of a plain, straight white girl from Philly. They want new and exotic, the diverse, and if I want to stay afloat, that’s what I have to give them” (256). Her resentments continue to boil up over dinner. Her mother insists that she should find a salaried position that pays benefits as Rory has. June tries but fails to express the importance writing holds for her. As the conversation becomes more tense and June fails to break through to her mother, she begins to worry that she will fade into obscurity, failing to have left a mark as a writer.

The visit with her mother leaves June rattled, and she spends time looking at various graduate programs and revisiting all of the reviews, both negative and positive, that she received for her writing. While perusing these comments, she finally finds real inspiration. One reviewer asserts that they would love to read an account of what actually happened with The Last Front and its authorship. June commits to writing this account, blending fact and fiction to craft a narrative that sheds light on the scandal. She believes that it will be entertaining and become a classic that will keep scholars debating about the authorship for decades to come. June falls in love with writing again and rethinks the nature of her relationship with Athena, wondering whether there was real friendship at times.

June is feeling so positive about writing again and so hopeful for the future that she reactivates her Instagram and posts a picture with a message about her new work. Soon after, Athena’s verified Instagram account reactivates and posts a photoshopped picture of Athena with The Last Front and Mother Witch that only June can see. The caption is written as though Athena is alive, and June cannot help but remember seeing Athena at Politics and Prose. She pushes the thought of Athena returning as a ghost out of her mind, convinced that Geoff is torturing her again. Determined to stop him in his tracks, she calls another meeting with him.