R.F. Kuang

Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning author of the international bestsellers Babel, Katabasis, and Yellowface. She studied Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge and Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford. She is currently pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University. Following her successful novels in fantasy and satire, Kuang demonstrates her versatility once again with Taipei Story, mastering a new style: the coming-of-age novel.

College freshman Lily Chen is off to spend the summer in Taipei at an intensive language program like so many Chinese American students before her, hoping to connect with the culture she inherited but never fully understood. But a promising start quickly unravels. Her classes are grueling, her roommate is driving her insane, and a reckless trip to the hot springs with a guy she barely knows soon has her classmates viciously gossiping. She feels adrift, a foreigner in a country she thought would feel like home.

Then shocking news arrives: Lily's grandfather has passed away. The loss forces her to grapple with now-unanswerable questions about her family history. As Lily grieves, she's drawn into a journey of self-discovery, piecing together memories, stories, and silences over a series of hilarious and devastating attempts at connection.

Taipei Story asks: What if the diaspora fantasy of homecoming never comes true? What if learning a language can't bring you any closer to the people you're trying to reach? What if you search for your family's history, but your family doesn't want to share? What if you wait too long to ask the right questions? As Lily struggles for answers, her summer becomes a poignant search for understanding of herself, her family, and the meaning of home.