Searching for Sylvie Lee
A Novel
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4.0 • 779 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
An Instant New
York Times Bestseller!
A Read with Jenna Today Show
Book Club Pick & Emma Roberts Belletrist Book Club Pick!
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY New York Times • Time • Marie Claire • Elle • Buzzfeed • Huffington
Post • Good Housekeeping • The Week • Goodreads • New York
Post • and many more!
“Powerful
. . . A twisting tale of love, loss, and dark family secrets.”
— Paula Hawkins, #1 New York
Times bestselling author of The Girl
on the Train and Into
the Water
A poignant and suspenseful drama
that untangles the complicated ties binding three women—two sisters and their
mother—in one Chinese immigrant family and explores what happens when the
eldest daughter disappears, and a series of family secrets emerge, from the New York Times bestselling
author of Girl in
Translation
It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older
daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with
her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.
Amy, the sheltered baby of the
Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly
immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by
a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in
America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister,
the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.
But what happened to Sylvie? Amy
and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always
looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined,
Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen.
But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the
truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will
reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have
imagined.
A deeply moving story of family,
secrets, identity, and longing, Searching
for Sylvie Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive
portrait of an immigrant family. It is a profound exploration of the many
ways culture and language can divide us and the impossibility of ever
truly knowing someone—especially those we love.
“This is a true beach read! You can’t put it down!” – Jenna Bush
Hager, Today Show Book
Club Pick
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Is anyone truly who they seem to be? The odds aren’t good, judging by Jean Kwok’s gripping mystery. When Sylvie—the perfect, high-achieving daughter of a Chinese American family—goes missing, her younger, feckless sister sets out to find her, whisking us on a journey around the globe, from New York’s Chinatown to Amsterdam and beyond. But the main journey in Kwok’s novel is a deep dive into notions of home, trust, and belonging. A sensitive examination of the immigrant experience, Searching for Sylvie Lee suggests that simply being alive can be perilous to one’s sense of self.
Customer Reviews
Excellent mystery
This mystery reveals itself in perfect time. Each chapter had me waiting to see what happened next. Top 5 books I’ve read this year.
Just So So...
Some interesting background involving Chinese culture, but the mild mystery plodded along and the family secrets became annoying.
Tragedy that spans several generations in a dysfunctional and secretive family
The incredibly different dynamics between the main characters in this family are so vast that their individual personalities and perspectives of their lives makes this novel all the more captivating from the very beginning. A mystery right up to the end. Beautifully written and highly recommended!