The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee

I was interested in historical fiction novels when I was younger, and began to lose interest as I became older. Thankfully, this novel has showed me that I have been missing out on novels that can really tell me a lot about significant times in our history! This book takes place during the World War II era, where a young woman named Claire moves to Hong Kong with her husband because the government transferred them there nine months ago. Claire's husband is working on a construction of the Tai Lam Cheung reservoir. Claire then decides to look for a job by posting an advertisement in the paper that states that she is available to be a piano teacher. The Chen family, an upperclass family that controls many aspects of the town, decides to ask Claire to come and teach their daughter piano. Claire at first is very hesitant to teach the girl piano because she is nervous that it will not go well because she might not understand english well. However, she decides to take the job and meets Locket, Melody and Victor Chen's daughter. Melody immediatly asks what type of education Claire had taking the piano, and Claire begins to notice that the questions she had about their lives were not answered. It seems as if there is a secret that the Chen's are hiding.....why is it that they know English so well?? Is there more to the story that Mrs. Chen did not tell Claire??

So far, I find the book interesting and I like how Janice Y.K. Lee describes the emotions of Claire, even though it is in a very indirect way. The book is in the third person, which I find that it becomes harder to then relate to the characters. The language of the book is a little hard to get into as well because it is written in very descriptive wording, which causes the reader to reread the sentences a few times. However, I find that the relationship between the Chen's and Claire is very strange and awkward because it seems as if it is truly forced and that they might not get along in the future. For example, when Claire mentions that Locket needs to practice the piano more frequently, her mom uses the excuse that she is not there enough to oversee her practicing. Claire then thinks to herself "parents were all the same. When she had children she would be sure not to indulge them." Clearly, it seems as if Claire is bothered by the fact that Locket's parents believe she is the best child in the world. I predict that this implication will then hinder the relationship between Claire and Locket's parents. I truly think that Lee is clever in revealing the character traits through thoughts becuase this technique then makes character traits revealed in a subtle way, which makes the reading experience more enjoyable for the reader as supposed to making the main character very predictable.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction novels and readers who enjoy books that reveal character traits in subtle and unique ways through a third person perspective.