The Double Life of Liann Zhang: The Vancouver-Born Author’s Debut Thriller, Set In The Cut-Throat World of Influencers, Is As Sharp And Addictive As The Feeds It Skewers 新世代小說家•張麗安

ENGLISH 英 : Shinan Govani | CHINESE 中 : Maggie Ho
Location: Indigo Hillcrest, PALETTERA Studio
Photography: Jackson Huang • Assistant: Jonah Wiley
Art Direction: Deborah Lau-Yu • Videography: Fête Chinoise Team
Fashion & Styling: Lisa Fang • MAKEUP & HAIR: Kelly Wong
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Madison Downey, Minnie Cheng

“I love being a dragon,” Liann Zhang says when the subject of the Chinese zodiac comes up. “It’s this random mystical beast in the middle of it all. I feel very powerful.”

Dragons, she adds, are brave and up for adventure, qualities that suit anyone writing a novel. Zhang just did. At just 23, she’s already seeing her debut thriller, Julie Chan is Dead, become one of the buzziest Canadian novels of the year, thanks in part to its setting in the murky world of influencers. The title is a tease; the story is even sharper.

“It’s about a young woman, a grocery store clerk, who steals her mega-influencer twin’s identity after she mysteriously dies, only to discover that her sister’s picture-perfect life is more sinister than it appeared online,” Zhang sums up. Think: The Talented Mr. Ripley dipped in soy sauce, set in the digital age.

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對於數碼年代長大的新晉作家 Liann Zhang（張麗安）而言，身份探索與故事分享，仿佛早已烙印在她的DNA中。早在青春期，已坐擁有超過兩萬名粉絲的她，並沒有盲目沉溺於虛擬光環；反之，她將種種經歷套用於創作，延伸至於個人小說《Julie Chan Is Dead》。多重身份、表象與真實的交錯，不僅是作品的核心主題，也映照著她的個人成長軌跡。

圖書為伴的童年

Liann 自小便愛閱讀，童年大部分時間都在圖書館度過，薰染出她對閱讀、小說幻想的喜好。「小時候於溫哥華生活，都是媽媽獨力照顧我。因為經常要四處搬家，買書太花錢，而且又不便搬家，所以我們都習慣到圖書館借書。媽媽不會英文，但每晚睡前都會跟我朗讀不同的圖書，這令我養成會講、能夠閱讀中文的能力，同時讓我大量涉獵各式各樣的小說世界。」

Published by Simon & Schuster, her book went viral on TikTok after Zhang posted a video about it in February, which has since drawn more than 6-million views – and counting. It’s a twist she appreciates, as her book critiques influencer culture while finding its own success on the very platform it explores.

But the story’s roots go back further, to when Zhang, who was born and raised in Vancouver, herself became an “accidental influencer” in high school – a “skinfluencer” – thanks to a bout of cystic acne.

“I was lactose intolerant and I didn’t know it,” she says, gently petting one of her two cats during our online interview. “I worked part-time in a Hong Kong-style bakery in Vancouver. Anything we didn’t sell, we got to take home in giant boxes. And it was all I would eat. I had awful, awful skin.”

As she dealt with breakouts, Zhang began posting about skincare products and quickly racked up more than 20,000 followers on Instagram. “As a chronically online kid, documenting my skincare journey felt natural. I’d take photos and put them out into the world. No rhyme, no reason. I think I was just bored,” she laughs.

Then came the first brand email: “Do you want a product in exchange for a post?” Zhang remembers being flabbergasted by the invitation. She didn’t have a huge following by today’s standards, but her audience was authentic and niche. She also started just as the makeup and skincare influencer scene was exploding. “I caught that wave at just the right time.”

Soon, she was getting sponsorships, going to brand events and witnessing the drama between influencers. Even then, surrounded by people turning influencing into a career, Zhang knew that kind of hustle culture wasn’t for her.

“I don’t like the term influencer. I still don’t. It feels embarrassing,” she admits. What she didn’t realize at the time was that she was researching her eventual novel. “It’s both a send-up of the influencer world and, in some ways, a repudiation of it.”

因為母親忙於工作，除了流連於圖書館，Liann 小時候多數時間都留在家中觀劇。作為Z世代的一員，她坦言觀看 YouTube 的時間甚至超過了與朋友相處的時間。「對我來說，網上世界給予我莫名的安全感，那些準時更新出片的頻道，總不會令人失望。」網路世界為她打開了一扇窗，讓她得以尋找慰藉。

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意外成為網紅

青春期時，Liann 因暗瘡問題開始在 Instagram 上分享自己的護膚心得。起初，她只是單純地記錄自己的護膚過程和心得，希望能幫助有同樣困擾的人。然而，令她意想不到的是，這些分享迅速引來大量網友關注，粉絲數量節節攀升。免費禮品和品牌活動的邀約隨之而來，Liann 成為炙手可熱的網紅。

對於「influencer（網紅）」這個稱謂，Liann 卻始終感到抗拒。「這個字詞感覺蠻尷尬的，我認為用『content creator（創作者）』來形容我會比較貼切。」她坦言，「當貼文獲得大量讚好時，當然會有多巴胺上癮的快感；但我不喜歡那種要不斷曝光、永遠在線的狀態。最初對於收到免費禮品，打扮得美美地拍照，是挺享受的。後來我才明白，那些看似輕鬆的廣告合作、頻繁的活動邀約，背後可能是無數個日夜的精心策劃和努力付出。」

Through her alter ego, Julie Chan, Zhang explores the addictive qualities of social media feeds: the pure ecstasy of refreshing a post, watching the engagement creep up, a pleasure loop. But also the relentless labour of being a professional content creator. In one chapter, Julie muses that “influencing is like running a 24/7 QVC where I’m the only spokesperson,” forced to commodify every aspect of her life.

Looking back, Zhang says the book felt almost inevitable, shaped even earlier by her immigrant mother, who raised her mostly alone. Her early years were filled with storytelling, turbocharged by regular library trips. “My mom read to me every night, mostly in Chinese because she spoke little English. I’m very grateful, otherwise my Chinese would be non-existent.”

English-language books that shaped Zhang early on included the Geronimo Stilton series, stories about a mild-mannered mouse drawn into zany adventures. Those books sparked her imagination. She says she always enjoyed writing, even though her school placed her in ESL classes despite her having been born in Canada. One of her earliest writing memories stems from grade five, when she co-wrote a horror story with a friend. “Just writing for fun,” she says. “But I wonder if that was the first time I saw writing as a possibility?”

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雙重身份

Liann 承認，成長於數碼時代，社交媒體已成為她生活不可或缺的一部分。「它讓我展現自我，也帶來不少友誼，讓我結識很多作家朋友。」一方面，她在社交媒體上十分活躍；另一方面，暗地裡她其實是個害怕失敗的人。

「我從來沒想過自己會變成一個網紅，更沒想過會出版自己的小說。《Julie Chan Is Dead》其實是我寫的第五部作品。」她憶起，「直至真正簽下出版合約、百分百肯定寫作出書能帶來收入後，我才跟父母透露這個消息。我連朋友都沒說，直到書出版，才有人發現這件事。」

小說《Julie Chan Is Dead》中，雙胞胎姐妹 Julie 與 Chloe 命運迥異：Chloe 被白人富裕家庭收養，憑藉外貌與時尚品味成為炙手可熱的網絡紅人； Julie 則在冷漠的姨媽家中艱難成長，掙扎於社會邊緣。當 Chloe 神秘身亡，Julie 決定頂替姊姊，踏入光鮮卻虛幻的世界。不難發現，小說角色與情節投射出 Liann 自身經歷——亞裔背景、雙重文化身份，以及對社交媒體虛實交錯的親身經驗與觀察。

Liann 在書中巧妙融入具有象徵意義的文化符號；在角色塑造上，更蘊含她對亞洲文化及亞裔處境的深刻體會。例如，被白人富裕家庭收養的 Chloe ，成長過程中刻意與亞裔群體保持距離。這一情節設定，從某種程度上反映出部分亞裔在努力融入主流文化時所面臨的身份認同困境。「作為在加拿大成長的亞裔，我希望通過自己的作品，讓更多人瞭解亞洲文化。」她補充說：「作為亞裔網絡創作者，我們付出同樣的努力，有時候甚至更有特色，但所得的報酬及待遇卻遠遠不及歐美網紅。」

Outside the classroom, Zhang’s home life was shaped by independence and responsibility from an early age. With her parents often working or apart after immigrating from China, Zhang became a latchkey kid. “I used to have a necklace with my house key and would go home by myself,” Zhang recalls. Her mother hustled to make ends meet, selling international phone cards, while her father eventually moved back to China for work. In their absence, Zhang’s sister, nine years older, stepped in as a second mother. “She cared a lot about me and protected me from a lot.”

Growing up, her “real” friends were sometimes no more meaningful than her “parasocial” ones, a theme that runs through her book. “I’d spend more time watching my favourite YouTuber than hanging out with friends,” she says. “There was a sense of safety with online influencers. They always deliver what you want. Consuming these people’s lives, you know?”

When she entered the influencer world herself, validation came at a cost. “Shelfies” – posts showing off beauty products – could rack up thousands of likes. “Seeing that number creep up made me feel important. But when I didn’t get as many likes, it felt devastating.”

The chase for likes and attention, she says, is even more complicated now. “Now, with TikTok and everyone an influencer, the digital space is so wide. A decade ago, if something went viral, everyone knew about it and you’d go on Ellen. Now, only a certain group knows, because the space is so fragmented and attention divided. There are so many lanes, like the ‘Trad Wife’ trend, that maybe the trend is no trend at all.”

新的章節

談及未來，Liann 透露正在創作第二部作品，故事關於一位「被幹掉的犯罪播客主持」，內容充滿懸疑和驚喜，同時亦會探討一些社會問題。此外，她在構思創作一部以昔日香港電影為題材的小說。「我是看港產片長大的，張國榮是我的偶像。那個年代的香港電影有獨特的魅力和韻味，承載無數人的青春回憶。」

從昔日流連於圖書館的小女孩、Instagram 上的護膚達人、到今日以小說建構世界的作家，Liann Zhang 利用自己的多元身份，構建起對社群、身份與真實的獨特想像。她的作品固然令人期待，但她未來路向，同樣值得關注。

Rather than tackling the entire world of social media, Zhang zeroed in on the genre she knows best: high-end makeup and beauty influencers. In Julie Chan is Dead, that world is embodied by the novel’s protagonist, Julie Chan, an anti-heroine whose moral ambiguity and ambition drive the story, a character type familiar to fans of prestige TV. “I love a character who does bad things,” Zhang says. “It’s more complex, especially when the anti-hero believes they’re the hero.” Influenced by such TV shows as Succession – the acclaimed drama about a ruthless media dynasty and the cutthroat pursuit of power – Zhang weaves in themes of status anxiety and class warfare, alongside explorations of race and online identity.

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Another influencer character, Chloe, is adopted and criticized for “internalized racism” and not hanging out with other Asians. “I couldn’t accurately write about an Asian influencer without addressing those themes,” Zhang says. “I’ve felt it myself, the privilege and access that comes with proximity to whiteness, and the place at the table it brings.”

Today based in Toronto, Zhang is finding her place in Canadian literature. For years, she kept her writing secret, even from her parents. “When I meet people, I still have a hard time introducing myself as a writer. I say I work in publishing. I need to own it more.”

She writes full-time now, having recently quit her corporate job, and her two-book deal is already in motion. Next up: a novel about a true crime podcaster who gets cancelled and tries to reclaim her success by faking a murder. She’s also developing a book set in the golden days of old Hong Kong Hollywood.

Julie Chan might be dead, but Liann Zhang is just getting started.

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