THE PIANO TEACHER is a beautiful novel. What is it about?
A. It’s a historical novel set in WWII Hong Kong about two women, Claire and Trudy, who are in love with the same man but at different times in his life. Their stories are told in alternating sections, and as the book progresses, the reader finds out more about events that happened during the war, events that affected and will affect their lives enormously. Q. The book is set in Hong Kong just as World War II is hitting. How did this storyline come about? A. The book started as a short story about a young Chinese girl and her English piano teacher. It was always set in Hong Kong because that is where I had grown up. In the beginning, it was set in the 70s but as I wrote more about the characters, I came to understand that things had happened to them that weren’t fitting in the time period and it became clear to me that their stories had been born in a time of war—a time when great things are at stake. Q.You were born in Hong Kong, when it was under British rule and you moved to the Uni
