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Published Jan 2016
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Piano Teacher, a beautiful, transporting novel about motherhood, marriage, and friendship
Janice Y. K. Lee's blockbuster hit debut, The Piano Teacher, was called "immensely satisfying" by People, "intensely readable" by O, The Oprah Magazine, and "a rare and exquisite story" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Now, in her long-awaited new novel, Lee explores with devastating poignancy the emotions, identities, and relationships of three very different American women living in the same small expat community in Hong Kong.
Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all. Atmospheric, moving, and utterly compelling, The Expatriates confirms Lee as an exceptional talent and one of our keenest observers of women's inner lives.
"A captivating book about three American women living in an expatriate community in Hong Kong ... Lee's women are complex and often flawed, which makes the stories of their strength all the more compelling in this tale of family, motherhood, and attempts at moving on." - Publishers Weekly
"A richly detailed novel that rubs away at the luster of expat life and examines how the bonds of motherhood or, really, womanhood, can call back even those who are furthest adrift." - Kirkus Reviews
"Gorgeously wrought ... The first must-read of 2016." - Marie Claire
"We found ourselves racing through this exotic, sexy, heartbreaking book. ... We couldn't wait to find out what happens to each of the women." - Glamour
"An emotionally gripping page-turner." - Elle
"We imagine we know these [expatriate] women, who are distanced from their work, friends, and family, but we don't. Janice Y. K. Lee does. Set in Hong Kong, The Expatriates looks inside the lives of three women ... all in crisis, all needing one another in ways they, and we, can't imagine." - Vanity Fair
"Shine[s] a penetrating light on both the ups and downs of the expat experience and the resilience of the human spirit." - Literary Review (UK)
"Devastating and heartwarming, and exquisite in every way, this is a book you'll fall deeply in love with and never want to put down." - Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians
This information about The Expatriates was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Janice YK Lee was born and raised in Hong Kong. She received a BA in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard College. A former editor at Elle magazine, Lee lives in New York with her husband and four children.
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