New author Janice Y. K. Lee is releasing her first novel “The Piano Teacher” that took over five years to write. The book will be release on January 13th. She will be doing a book tour this coming January. So what is the novel about? Here’s the synopsis:
In the sweeping tradition of The English Patient, a gripping tale of love and betrayal set in war-torn Hong Kong.
In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival. Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the Japanese—in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of terrible betrayals.
Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter’s piano teacher. A provincial English newlywed, Claire is seduced by the heady social life of the expatriate community. At one of its elegant cocktail parties, she meets Will, to whom she is instantly attracted—but as their affair intensifies, Claire discovers that Will’s enigmatic persona hides a devastating past. As she begins to understand the true nature of the world she has entered, and long-buried secrets start to emerge, Claire learns that sometimes the price of survival is love.
Buy “The Piano Teacher” by Janice Y. K. Lee
More about the author
Janice Y. K. Lee was born and raised in Hong Kong and went to boarding
school in the United States before attending Harvard College. A graduate
of Hunter College’s MFA program and a freelance writer, Lee is a former
features editor at Elle and Mirabella magazines in New York. She
currently lives in Hong Kong with her husband and four children.
“The Piano Teacher” by Janice Y. K. Lee
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Q&A with Janice Y. K. Lee
What is your writing routine?
THE PIANO TEACHER was at least five years of work. When I started the book, I had no children. By the end of it, I had four. So it was challenging. I’m not a very disciplined writer but once I had more responsibilities, I definitely took advantage of the times when I knew I could work for a stretch. And when a line comes into my head and I know it’s a good one, I will always write it down right away. I’ve forgotten too many good lines to not do that. Those lines will open up a new chapter for you, or direct you in a significant way and I’ve learned to pay attention when they come.
Who are your literary influences?
I don’t know that I can say who my influences are but I can say who my favorite writers are. Funnily enough, they are quite different from me in writing style. I love Lorrie Moore, Mona Simpson, Shirley Hazzard, Michael Cunningham, Amy Hempel. I think Dana Spiotta is amazingly talented. There are so many good writers!
THE PIANO TEACHER is set during a major piece of world history—World War II. How much research did you do for the book? How historically accurate is it?
I read a lot of memoirs by English speakers, obviously, who were here during the war and the occupation, some novels about the 50s like Love is a Many Splendored Thing, watched movies about the time, like Lust, Caution or The World of Suzie Wong, just to see what it looked like and how people dressed. And it is as historically accurate as I could make it. For the most part, the dates are real. Hong Kong did fall on Boxing Day, 1941. They did call people to Murray Parade Ground on January 5, 1942. So those things are real, and as I read, I found a lot of the detail fascinating. But I believe the obligation of the novelist is to the story, not to the truth. I was trying to tell a story about Will and Trudy and Claire, people who found themselves in a desperate situation, and the background is there to anchor them in this period.
The novel goes back-and-forth between Hong Kong around New Years of 1941 / 1942 and 1952, each was a war time (WWII and the Korean War respectively), which was an interesting time in world history and many weren’t aware of the atrocities that took place in Hong Kong during WWII. What surprised you about the era that you tried to incorporate into the novel?
I’m always surprised when I read about the past, at how similar it is to the present. Although the outfits are different, the substance is the same—that people loved each other, that they betrayed each other, that people were petty, or grand, or irritating. Hong Kong in the 1940s and 1950s was a real mix of modern and old-fashioned, depending on whose memoir you are reading.
What do you want people to take away from reading THE PIANO TEACHER?
I hope they’re taken away from their lives into a different world. Transported is an overused word, but I love the feeling of being transported, being drawn into a book so furiously and intensely that when I come up for air, everything seems different. I hope that people can really sink themselves into the world that is portrayed in the book.