| 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.
Annotation:
Janice Lee's debut novel depicts the lives and loves of a pair of British expatriates amidst the 1940s Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. Clare Pendleton is a new bride when she arrives in Hong Kong in 1951, and takes a job as a piano teacher to the children of a wealthy family. The family's chauffeur, Will Truesdale, quickly sets his sights on Clare, and a dangerous game of seduction and retreat begins. As their affair begins, Will's previous romance with a bold and beautiful Eurasian named Trudy is revealed, exposing the emotional damage he has suffered and may now intend for Clare.
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Praise| "Lee has made the bold (and successful) decision to write a novel in which none of her characters are particularly endearing." - Lisa Fugard 01/18/2009 "Evocative, poignant and skillfully crafted, THE PIANO TEACHER is more than an epic tale of war and a tangled, tortured love story. It is the kind of novel one consumes in great, greedy gulps, pausing (grudgingly) only when absolutely necessary." - JESSICA REAVES 01/03/2009 "The past, both personal and political, can't be escaped in this atmospheric, finely wrought novel set in Hong Kong." - Bob Minzesheimer 01/07/2009 "Lee has created the sort of interesting, complex characters...that drive a rich and intimate look at what happens to people under extraordinary circumstances." - Carolyn Kubisz 12/01/2008 "[T]his romantic tale of smoky intrigues, near misses, two-faced villains and secretive lovers resolves into a good old-fashioned mystery...Lee, a former Elle editor, handles the well-worn plot with style." - Lizzie Skurnick 03/03/2009 |
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