The Piano Teacher

Author : Janice Y K Lee

Claire Pendleton arrived with her husband in Hongkong in 1953. Through an acquaintance, she got a job as piano teacher for Locket Chen, daughter of Melody and Victor Chen. One day at a party, Claire met Will Truesdale. After that Will seemed to be everywhere. Before long, they were involved in an intimate relationship. Will was one of war survivor from the 40s during the occupancy of Japan in Hongkong.

I found the story line interesting but not deep enough. I don't understand the need to portray Claire's desire to 'pick up' small items at the Chen's residence. I feel sorry for Claire because she was married to Martin without love. Will on the other hand is still living in the past, couldn't let go of Trudy. And Claire is just a lonely woman entangled in this post-war situation.

In the beginning, the novel looked like those romantic love story novels. But I found the love story wasn't very intense. The author tried to put in some espionage to stir up the story but it didn't quite help. In the end the novel was just like half cooked. Interesting idea but not so much on implementation.

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