The Expatriates
A Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
THE INSPIRATION FOR EXPATS—AN ORIGINAL SERIES STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN—NOW STREAMING ON PRIME VIDEO
“Devastating and heartwarming, and exquisite in every way, this is a book you’ll fall deeply in love with and never want to put down.”—Kevin Kwan, author of Crazy Rich Asians
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Piano Teacher, a searing novel of marriage, motherhood, and the search for connection far from home.
In the glittering city of Hong Kong, expats arrive daily for myriad reasons—to find or lose themselves in a foreign place, and to forget or remake themselves far from home. Amidst this hothouse atmosphere, a tragic incident causes three American women’s lives to collide in ways that will rewrite every assumption of their privileged world: Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, once again finds herself compromised and adrift, trying to start her life anew; Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, hoping to save her uncertain marriage; meanwhile, Margaret, once the enviable mother of three, tries to negotiate an existence that has become utterly unrecognizable after a catastrophic event. Faced with unthinkable choices, these three women form a profound connection that defies the norms of the sequestered community—finding in each other a strength borne of need, forgiveness, and ultimately hope.
Atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Expatriates showcases Lee’s exceptional talent as one of our keenest observers of women’s inner lives.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
While we can't say for sure that Janice Y. K. Lee penned her sophomore novel specifically to keep us pinned to our couch for an entire weekend, we have our suspicions. The Expatriates is a richly detailed, intensely human, and delightfully tabloid-ready portrait of the intimate lives of three very different American women transplanted to today's Hong Kong. Lee's interwoven storylines are thrilling; they left us musing about family, fate, and what it really means to be “home.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After her successful debut novel, The Piano Teacher, Lee returns with a captivating book about three American women living in an expatriate community in Hong Kong. She explores their experiences with love, loss, and uncertainty about the future and the unexpected ways their lives intersect. Mercy, a recent Columbia graduate who relocated from New York to Hong Kong in search of new opportunities, struggles to move forward after her involvement in a disturbing incident. Margaret, who used to have a life that other people envied, with a happy marriage and three children, finds herself searching for a new identity after her family is shaken by a loss. And Hilary, a wealthy housewife wishing for a child and toying with the idea of adoption, feels stalled by indecision and a troubled marriage. Their international community, described vividly in this atmospheric narrative, is insular. That these women occupy different spaces in this world of privilege does not prevent them from altering one another's lives. Lee's women are complex and often flawed, which makes the stories of their strength all the more compelling in this tale of family, motherhood, and attempts at moving on.