The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee✔✔✓

I bought this book at Borders in the US, read about a third of it, then set it aside because of three big books I received from the library there, and I didn't get back to it till now, so I started again from the beginning. I copied this summary from Book Browse:

In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival. Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the Japanese—in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of terrible betrayals.( end quote)

I enjoyed this book, even though one reviewer in Book Browse didn't like the writing, or the fact that it didn't go anywhere. I read it in two days - it's easy enough to read, and she tells a good story. I'm always intrigued by people who suffer so much hardship, as did the people in the internment camp, and Trudy, to me at least, is the real hero of the book, as she stays outside the camps but still suffers immensely. I wish she hadn't just disappeared near the end- she deserved better closure by the author.

All in all, though, a very good read.