The Piano Teacher

I just finished reading this book today. It started as a bargain book I picked up at the Border’s which was closing on Michigan Ave. 40% off of $3.99 how could I resist? I may have heard the of the book but only in passing.

It had been quite a while since the last novel I read. Med school does that to you, but when I got through to the epilogue, I couldn’t help feeling somewhat unsatisfied. I had not gotten enough, there were questions, hopes and desires that I had for the characters.

The best word to describe this novel: Haunting

It took me a bit to realize that the book jumped at times from one time period to another and that everything was connected; subtly yet seamlessly if you took another look back. The writing reminded me a bit of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I absolutely loved.

The story of two women from different backgrounds, circumstances, faced with different challenges and sacrifices encircling the same man who profoundly changed their lives.

Although the book’s title and cover depict Claire as being a central character, it was Trudy Liang that I could not get enough of. The character that Janice Y. K. Lee created was fascinating, charming, daring yet devastatingly realistic at the same time. She absolutely broke my heart.

The Piano Teacher unfolds slowly, almost to where you start getting frustrated with the point of all the words only to realize and then quickly flip back to attempt to put together the pieces. The characters are realistic, relate-able and very very fragile. Their choices and secrets make you realize just how ephemeral everything really is. Everything can change before you know it, and then how do you continue on?

I cannot wait for another novel by Lee. If this was an indication of what is to come, I’m hooked.