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A review by trin
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee
3.0
Historical fiction, covering the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Those aspects of the story were fascinating to me—I've read tons of WWII stories, but never one that covered this region. Lee's descriptions of life during the occupation are vivid and harrowing; she does a fantastic job realistically portraying the many ways people come together and fall apart under such horrific circumstances.
Unfortunately, as seems to be de rigueur for this sort of book these days, there's also a more modern component, and a *~*mystery*~* to be uncovered. This portion of the book, and even more notably the way the two relate, is much weaker. It doesn't help that, after everything, the BIG SECRET is revealed in such a hum-drum way. It's sort of as if the end of The Empire Strikes Back had gone like this:
Lando Calrissian invites Chewbacca and C-3PO to tea.
Lando: So, I heard that Vader is Luke's father.
C-3PO: I say!
Lando: Hey, just thought you should know.
Chewie: Rowarrrk!
But yes! The occupation scenes are seriously great, even if they don't have any Wookies in them. This is Lee's first novel, and it's got a lot to recommend it for a debut. I'll definitely be checking out her next one.
Unfortunately, as seems to be de rigueur for this sort of book these days, there's also a more modern component, and a *~*mystery*~* to be uncovered. This portion of the book, and even more notably the way the two relate, is much weaker. It doesn't help that, after everything, the BIG SECRET is revealed in such a hum-drum way. It's sort of as if the end of The Empire Strikes Back had gone like this:
Lando Calrissian invites Chewbacca and C-3PO to tea.
Lando: So, I heard that Vader is Luke's father.
C-3PO: I say!
Lando: Hey, just thought you should know.
Chewie: Rowarrrk!
But yes! The occupation scenes are seriously great, even if they don't have any Wookies in them. This is Lee's first novel, and it's got a lot to recommend it for a debut. I'll definitely be checking out her next one.