Julie Chan Is Dead: A Novel
“a fascinating novel about social media, fake and real friendships, family ties, and deceptions.”
“After stealing a sip of Chardonnay, the liquid burning my throat, I closed the fridge and walked to examine the pantry shelf. The tip of my toes catches on something. My heart lurches as I flail toward the ground. At the last second, I catch myself on the window. Busy streets, cars the size of Lego pieces, wobble in my eyes. I upright myself with a relieved sigh. I turn around to see what I had tripped on. And then I see her. Chloe.”
What would you do if you were Julie Chan? Your life is on hold, working in a dead-end job with a mean boss and you were raised by an avaricious and mean-spirited aunt who constantly lets you know how much she resented having to take you in after your parents died.
On the other end of the lucky spectrum your identical twin Chloe was scooped up by an ultra-rich blue-blooded family, going to live in a fancy home with everything anyone can want in the way of material goods. Now Chloe is a major influencer whose every move is curated and chronicled on social media as she inks one lucrative contract after another to promote luxury goods. You haven’t seen her in years except for the time she and her camera crew swooped into your life and reunited and then disappeared again. The reunion was only for show.
Now, you’ve come to her place in New York, mistaken for your twin by the doorman and entering her apartment after finding the door unlatched, you discover Chloe’s body. She’s dead. No one knows that but you.
The right thing to do is report her death. The wrong thing is to say the body is that of Julie Chan.
Everyone thinks you are her. Would you change lives? Julie, Chloe’s twin, does, and enters a life unlike everything she knew.
Of course, it’s hard work trying to ensure that none of Chloe’s influencer friends as well as all of her social media followers realize you’re not her. But Julie uses the excuse of grieving the death of her twin to help explain some of her odd behaviors.
Fooling her aunt is not as easy. She knows the truth and suddenly you’re paying an exorbitant amount of extortion money to keep her quiet.
Julie’s anger toward her twin has been on slow simmer for a long time. Then she discovers Chloe’s diaries. Life wasn’t perfect—Chloe’s parents were distant and seemingly uncaring and expecting perfection. Ironically, despite the trappings of Chloe’s life, she was in many ways just as lonely as Julie. Her parents only adopted her because their racists views had become known and by taking in a young Chinese girl they could turn the page on their past.
But there may be deeper and darker secrets as well. Julie discovers that Chloe’s parents are now comatose in an expensive long term care facility. Chloe’s manner of death may be questionable as well. Was she really a drug addict who succumbed to an overdose? Hard to believe given her active lifestyle and perfect attention to her diet and looks. And what is this mysterious island vacation Julie takes with a group of influencers where they’re not allowed to connect with the outside world? There’s evil afoot.
Maybe becoming Chloe is a dangerous undertaking. Julie needs to figure out how to save herself and she may need the influencer skills she learned from imitating her sister to do that.
This is the debut novel for Liann Zhang, a second-generation Chinese Canadian and a former skincare content creator who holds a degree in psychology and criminology. Taking us into the world of influencers, she’s written a fascinating novel about social media, fake and real friendships, family ties, and deceptions.