Yulin Kuang has been having an It Girl summer. Her debut novel, How To End A Love Story, dropped April 9 and was chosen for Reese's Book Club in May. "They did send me photos of [Reese Witherspoon] holding my book, which I was like, 'Oh my God, this is almost better than if I had a selfie with her,'" Yulin jokes over Zoom. "It feels more personal. I was like, 'Oh, it's like she's taking a selfie with my brain.'"
"It's been kind of a whirlwind," the author continues. "I've walked into, somehow, the dream scenario for a debut author. And at the same time, it is kind of daunting because it always feels so vulnerable to put art out there that feels personal, which I think good art always should feel."
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How To End A Love Story follows Helen Zhang and Grant Shepard, who reconnect after a tragic accident 13 years ago changed their lives forever. In honor of Yulin's partnership with Maison Louis Jadot, I sat down to talk about the author, screenwriter, and director's favorite book & wine pairings (like Natalie Sue's I Hope This Finds You Well & Pouilly-Fuissé and Betty Corrello's Summertime Punchline & Bourgogne Blanc). And that includes the drinks her characters would go for.
According to Yulin, Helen would love the Beaujolais-Villages ("She's a little bit formal, she talks about how she feels like she was raised by old Victorian Ghosts"), while Grant would gravitate to the Macon-Villages, a personal favorite of Yulin's.
"My friends came over and we poured it and we were just having our own little wine sampling, which I do recommend," she says. "I feel like it's fun to have two different wines, and instantly you've elevated your gathering."
No dinner party is complete without a charcuterie board, and Yulin's perfect spread includes nuts, meats, and cheeses. "Something with rosemary and salt," she says after thinking for a moment. "I love a truffle nut. It's a good source of flavors and kind of a light protein so it feels kind of healthy. Apricots are great. And then I love a meat spread as well. So any kind of pepperoni, salami. And then yeah, I love any kind of cheese that has a hint of garlic, which I know makes me like less kissable."
In addition to creating the ultimate book and wine list, Yulin has been diving into hobbies that cultivate her creativity. Bridgerton reminded her how much she loves to embroider, while she's also found time to figure skate. She's been revisiting classic novels, old movies, and just "going back to the things that first made me fall in love with romance."
"I started subscribing to magazines because I found that everything that was coming to me was coming to me through an algorithm and I didn't mind that it was curated, but I wanted it to be curated by a human," she continues. "So sometimes when I feel like I've been staring at screens for too long, I shut everything off and then I start painting and I just paint using references from magazines."
Zack Wallnau/Maison Louis Jadot
While the celebration for her first novel is far from over, Yulin Kuang is also looking to the future — and the two Emily Henry books she's adapting: Beach Read (on which she's writer and director) and People We Meet On Vacation (which she wrote the screenplay for).
"I am pretty focused on Beach Read at the moment," she says. "I truly believe that art belongs to the audience once it's out in the world. And so saying too much, it feels prescriptive, you know? So I hope they enjoy it. I hope that they know that a lot of care is going into the adaptations. I remember what it's like to be watching with anxious hearts about the announcements of all my favorite adaptations. And so that's the main thing. I hope they know that I really, really care."
I got to sit down with Emily Henry ahead of the release of her 2023 hit Happy Place, and was immediately enchanted by the author. "She really is that person," Yulin says about Emily. "She is so warm and charming and wonderful. And she's the dream collaborator when it comes to this because you kind of want somebody who understands the art and understands that the book is a book and the movie is a movie."
"When you transport art into another medium, it has to be able to take root in the soil and bloom into its own thing," she continues. "We're creating different vineyards. And so I think there's some natural anxiety going into that for the first time because it's like, 'Oh, well, is this gonna go well? Will they like what we've done?' And Emily has just been such a fantastic collaborator in that regard."
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But Beach Read and People We Meet On Vacation aren't the only projects we'll see from Yulin Kuang in the future. "I do have another indie feature that I'm currently working on," Yulin shares. "It's called Filthy and it's with Adam Scott and Naomi Scott's production company. I'm very excited about that one. It's set in the world of audio porn and it's about a couple that's trying to decide if they're ready to have kids. And then the wife discovers that her husband is secretly an audio porn star, and they have like a sexy little affair."
"In the book space, I've been working on book two," she continues. "What I can say is book two has proved so much harder to write than book one. And I kind of have a mistress book too. I do this thing where, for some reason, I need to have a main project and then eventually a mistress will develop and then I'll kind of work on the two and see which one is gonna actually make it across the finish line. It keeps things exciting for me."
Check out The 27 Most-Anticipated New Books Debuting In 2024 to see what else you should totally add to your TBR this year.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
