The Piano Teacher

The Piano Teacher was a surprise. I am taking part on a Book Challenge and the task was to read a book by an author born in Hong Kong. It felt right to do so when Hong Kong is in the middle of much political turmoil.

The author does a great job at conveying the city under a foreign invasion and the personal tragedies that it inflicts, as well the personal ethical dilemmas, love and loyalties that survival under such horrible conditions puts to a test.

I also liked the second narrative that runs parallel to the historical fiction. The story of Claire, a young and naïve housewife that arrives in Hong Kong in the early 1950’s and becomes entangled in the unraveling of the personal dramas - and crimes – that happened during the show more Japanese occupation. Many of the other reviewers seem to find the story of Claire less compelling, but I liked it very much. Maybe I am attracted to the stories of women that escaped the norms that were dictated to them by gender, or simply of people that recognize the limitations of their own prejudices and allow themselves to grow bigger.

This book gets extra points for its strong sense of setting and the authors ability to convey the social atmosphere during and after the war. Overall I like it very much. show less

I loved this story of what you will (or won't) do for love, and what you will do to survive in war time, and in everyday life.

Claire Pendleton arrives in Hong Kong as a newlywed in 1952 and becomes part of the British society in the city. She begins an affair with Will Truesdale, who has been in Hong Kong much longer than she.

The story moves back and forth between the current time period (1952-3) and the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong ten years earlier. As we learn about the characters and what happened to them during the war, we also follow their current lives and see how they were affected by choices made by, or for, them a decade ago. It is interesting that, as the two stories come together, the biggest impact is on the one show more character who wasn't present during the war: Clair, the title piano teacher.

I found the book got better as it went along, unlike so many that kind of fizzle out. I was drawn more and more into the story and in trying to put the pieces together. I thought the ending was realistic: slightly sad and arguably inevitable given the characters involved. Well done! show less

I don't think I was supposed to think this book was great, but as a slightly elevated beach or travel read, it was superb. Sultry Hong Kong, the benighted English, the idyll before WWII, the shock after it; betrayals, abused servants, open-air markets, sweating, affairs--what fantastic intrigue! Of course, some of the characters are banal (Claire...oh, Claire...ye heroine/protagonist/sort of...you are so boring), some are implausibly edgy (aherm, Trudy, I'm talking about you here), but golly, what a barnstormer. Had a few late nights at the beach house (or whatever) with this one; proverbially couldn't put it down.

Janice Y.K. Lee’s debut historical novel, The Piano Teacher, weaves together two strands of narrative: Hong Kong in 1941 when the Japanese invade and Hong Kong in 1952 in the post-World War II period. In both periods the cosmopolitan community is seen through the eyes of a newcomer. In 1941 that newcomer is Englishman Will Truesdale, who begins a love affair with Trudy Liang, a Eurasian socialite. And in 1952, the newcomer is Claire Pendleton, an English newlywed who soon embarks on her own love affair with Will Truesdale. Through Will, Claire starts to see beneath the brittle surface of postwar Hong Kong society and learns of the secrets her new acquaintances are hiding about what happened during the Japanese occupation. Lee’s show more picture of wartime Hong Kong is devastating as she contrasts the English and Americans who are forced into prison camps with the Chinese who scrabble for existence and must decide how to contend with the Japanese invaders (will they collaborate or resist). Lee addresses themes of guilt and accountability and explores how, in the face of adversity, some people choose heroism and others choose cowardice. She looks at what people will do to survive and how they cope with the aftermath of their choices. Some are able to go on as if nothing happened, and others are destroyed by the knowledge of what they did. Lee’s depiction of wartime and postwar Hong Kong is vivid and unforgettable. Readers who like all the narrative threads tied up in a neat bow, however, might be frustrated by some of the questions left unanswered at the end of the book. The ending and the actual reveal of the secrets hinted at in the early part of the book are a bit anticlimactic, but those are minor quibbles. All in all, this is a solid and enjoyable debut work of literary fiction. I look forward to more from Lee.
(Note: This review was based on an advance reading copy. Some material in the finished book may differ.) show less

All's unfair in love + war; so goes the theme of this WWII novel set in Hong Kong during the horror of the Japanese invasion. The characters - Trudy, a gorgeous Portuguese-Chinese woman, her Brit lover Will, and Claire, a Brit bride who arrives in the Colony 10 years after the war - are very well developed and the plot, told in dual time frames and from Will and Claire's viewpoints, is always commanding. But adding Trudy's thoughts would have made it even better, rather than leaving her as a bit too enigmatic. It reminded me a bit of Love is a Many Splendored Thing, but much less mushy. Lee's immersion in Hong Kong history and life (also seen in her latest, The Expatriates) paint a picture of a locale to be treasured for all the show more nationalities, social classes, and cuisine (!) it embraces. show less

Two days ago I thought my review of this book would be quite different than it is. Two days ago I was on page 113 of this book and I was getting frustrated with the vapid characters who were either spending all their time acting the part of the privileged upper class English ex-pats in Hong Kong or (in Claire's case) stealing trinkets. Even the war-time surrender of Hong Kong to the Japanese seemed only a minor inconvenience to these people. However, a mere 13 pages later, the story rapidly grows teeth.
The Piano Teacher tells the story of two separate love affairs in the life of English ex-pat Will Truesdale. The two events are separated by a span of 12 years. In the 1940s, Will is new to Hong Kong and in love with a young Eurasian show more heiress, Trudy. They fill their days and nights with parties and other pleasant diversions. Even the war does little to affect their lifestyle, until the Japanese decide to put all the "enemy civilians" in interment camps. Will goes into the camp, but Trudy denies her British citizenship and remains free. From this point on, the story turns into a tragically human story of love, betrayal, and loss.
In the 1950s, Will has an affair with a young married woman, Claire. However, Will and Claire's affair simply provides the framework for the bigger picture of what ultimately happened to Will and Trudy during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. show less

Set in Hong Kong in two time periods—1952 and leading up to the Japanese invasion in 1941—this lovely debut novel is part romance, part mystery, and part sociological study of the behavior of an expat community in good times and very very bad ones.
The 1952 story begins with newly arrived Claire Pendleton, wife of a water engineer who’s mostly away and mostly ignores her. Claire’s a bit bored and lets it be known she’s offering piano lessons. She’s hired by a prominent Chinese family, Melody and Victor Chen to teach their ten-year-old daughter Locket. With the Chens, she comes to know temptation.
On the street and at practically every social event she attends, she runs into a long-time Hong Kong resident, the emotionally show more elusive Englishman Will Truesdale. He has an odd limp and an confident manner, and he pursues Claire with determination. Over time, she learns his history and the preoccupations that haunt him.
In 1941, Truesdale was the Hong Kong newcomer. Almost immediately he meets and falls for Eurasian beauty Trudy Liang, a fixture in the social scene and cousin of Melody Chen. Will and Trudy’s love affair changes them both. Then the Japanese overwhelm the colony, bringing their detention camps, their bombs, their random, brutal murders, and deep, starvation-level privation. Choices were made, and those long-ago choices shape Claire’s world too.
Having shown the glitter of Hong Kong, Lee now exposes the grime. She reveals the aspects of character that allow individuals to survive changed circumstances, or not. The ones who come out the other side, like Claire, who needed to believe there was more to life, learn who they truly are.
The plot is strong and the prose elegant. Lee carries you along so easily that before you know it, you are plunged into difficulty all around. Her vivid description of the city of Hong Kong and the life there is like a prolonged, unforgettable visit to an exotic, insular world. show less