The Piano Teacher

 

By Janice Y. K. Lee

The story of two young women in Hong Kong, living ten years apart, Trudy in 1941 and Claire in 1952.

Claire is a young newlywed English woman who has come to Hong Kong with her husband, Martin. Being a British colony, there are plenty of British people to socialize with. But Claire feels a bit isolated and when she is offered a job teaching piano to a wealthy local couple's child, she accepts it. It's not that she needs the money, but it just gives her something to do. The couple, Victor and Melody Chen and their daughter Locket, are Chinese but sophisticated and worldly. Their chauffeur is an Englishman, Will Truesdale, which is very unusual at the time for a British person to work as a servant for Chinese family. Claire becomes fascinated by Will, who is quite a bit older than she is and lets him make her his mistress.

Flashback to 1941 and Trudy Liang. Trudy is a captivating and vital woman of mixed heritage, part European and part Chinese. She is the only child of a wealthy Chinese businessman. Her father doesn't live in Hong Kong and Trudy is left to her own devices. She takes up with Will Truesdale and they become lovers. But this is 1941 and the Japanese are about to embark on a quest for Asian domination which will lead them to bomb Pearl Harbor and set off World War II. One of the casualties of their egomania will be the British colony of Hong Kong. By January of 1942, Hong Kong is under Japanese control and, typical of their conduct throughout the war, their are cruel, vicious and inhumane. Trudy becomes a liason between the Japanese and the colony and the unwilling mistress of a Japanese VIP, Otsubo. Will Truesdale ends up in a prison compound with many other non-Chinese, including a British man who is in possession of some knowledge the Japanese want, the location of the Crown Collection. This is a collection of Chinese artifacts the British have acquired and is extremely valuable and was stashed away when it became obvious that Hong Kong was in danger.

The connection between Claire and Trudy is the man, Will, who they both loved but whose love did not benefit either of them.

I enjoyed this story, especially as it informed me about a subject I had never given any thought to: the fate of Hong Kong in World War II.

The story of Trudy is certainly the most captivating part of the novel. I don't even really understand why the story of Claire was included except perhaps as a vehicle for exposing the misdeeds of the characters during the Japanese occupation. So even though Claire seems kind of pointless, it was a really good read.

Review by Publishers Weekly.