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Listen to the news and all you hear is doom and gloom regarding the economy these days. If you want to put our current hard times in a better perspective and enjoy a great diversion, pick-up a copy of The Piano Teacher.

Claire hardly knows her husband when she agrees to marry him and follow him in his government transfer to Hong Kong in 1952. She asks around for possible piano students and finds a position as teacher to Locket, the daughter of the wealthy Chen family. Will Truesdale, the Chen’s chauffer, begins an affair with Claire which leads to a revealing of his tortured past during World War II. The history of this city, characters that Janice Lee has created and life or death decisions which had to be made during wartime make this a very fine debut novel. Beware of the horrors of war.