Fake it till you make it

A pacy examination of the power of influencers and the dangers of fame in a world of privilege.

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Julie Chan is Dead starts out with a lie. Identical twin Julie Chan is mostly alive, except in the eyes of the law, social media and everyone who’s ever known her. She’s been routinely mistaken for her famous influencer twin, Chloe van Huusen, for years, especially in her dead-end job at a grocery store – and she hates it. But now, Chloe is dead and nobody knows but Julie, the only person who could step into her shoes.

When you are an identical twin, possibilities for mistaken identity abound. Shakespeare recognised the literary power of twins when he wrote Twelfth Night, and numerous authors have followed suit with twin characters: Angela Carter, Lewis Carroll, Arundhati Roy, George RR Martin, Audrey Niffenegger and others. More locally, Catherine Chidgey’s new book (see our review, page 38) has triplets at its core. Reader fascination with multiples, and the opportunities inherent in having identical characters, make them a compelling subject for fiction. Debut author Liann Zhang has taken this and run with it.