Captured in clipped, almost abbreviated language, “The Piano Teacher” paints vivid pictures in quick strokes. Populated with a cast of “wandering global voyagers,” Lee unfurls her story, set in Hong Kong during and after World War II, layer by layer and in cinematic snippets. Lee’s debut novel, The Piano Teacher, whispers, “Watch me.”
A persuasive re-creation of a time and place.Something about Janice Y.K. this is a truly transporting-and indeed irresistible-work of fiction." With its fascinating interplay of East and West and wide cast of effervescent characters. Rich with intrigue, romance, and betrayal, this wonderfully written, utterly captivating novel dazzles with its sharp-eyed renderings of beau monde Hong Kong as it is plunged into the crucible of war. "Rarely does one encounter a debut work as beguiling and assured as Janice Lee’s The Piano Teacher. Janice Lee is nothing short of brilliant and her novel is impossible to put down." "One of the most insightful, elegant, and atmospheric novels I’ve read in a long time. It does exactly what a great novel should do-transports you out of time, out of place, into a world you can feel in your very own skin." “Lee has created the sort of interesting, complex characters, especially in Trudy, that drive a rich and intimate look at what happens to people under extraordinary circumstances.” "A lush examination of East-West relations." "Lee delivers a standout debut layers of intrigue and more than a few unexpected twists." Just hide your phone before cracking this one open-or risk calling your ex." “A compelling portrait of the devastating choices people make in order to survive.” As Graham Greene evoked Vietnam in The Quiet American, Lee, born and raised in Hong Kong long after the war, captures the city as it was during World War II, its glittering veneer barely masking the panic and corruption beneath." "The novel is sustained by elegant prose and a terrific sense of place. "Lee unfolds the story with the brisk grace and discretion of the society she describes." "War, love, betrayal-an exquisite fugue of a first novel.
"A shattering, immensely satisfying debut." If we measure the skill of a fiction writer by her ability to create characters and atmosphere so effortlessly real, so alive on the page, that the reader feels a sense of participatory anxiety-as if the act of reading gives one the power to somehow influence the outcome of purely imaginary events-then Lee should be counted among the very best in recent memory."
It is the kind of novel one consumes in great, greedy gulps, pausing (grudgingly) only when absolutely necessary. "Evocative, poignant, and skillfully crafted, The Piano Teacher is more than an epic tale of war and a tangled, tortured love story. The New York Times Book Review, “Editor’s Choice”
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