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Book Review of The Piano Teacher

The Piano Teacher
PamelaH avatar reviewed on + 90 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4


In 1952, an English couple, Claire & Martin move to Hong Kong as the husband has work there overseeing the construction of a new reservoir. Claire, an innocent type, takes a job as a piano teacher, teaching a young girl whose parents are wealthy & powerful. Soon Claire begins to find out dark secrets from the past. The story goes back and forth from the present (early 1950's) back to World War II where we learn about Hong Kong society and the brutal Japanese occupation & after. The secrets uncovered, and the affair she indulges in, change Claire forever. This was a good book and I learned much about Hong Kong that I didn't know; the occupation there during the war, etc. Some portions of the story were a little too long-winded for me, but all in all, I liked this book, sad as it was.