Janice Y. K. Lee (born 1972), is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

-born American author, known for her best-selling

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

'' The Piano Teacher''.

Career

After graduating from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

with a degree in English and American Literature and Language, Lee moved to

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, where she worked as an editor at ''

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'' and ''

Mirabella ''Mirabella'' was a women's magazine published from June 1989 to April 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former ''Vogue'' editor in chief, in partnership with Rupert Murdoch. It was originally published by News Corporati ...

'' magazines. After several years, she enrolled in Hunter College's MFA program and began writing her first novel. Lee initially wrote ''The Piano Teacher'' as a short story and decided to expand the story into a novel length work. Once published, ''The Piano Teacher'', published in November 2009, was on the New York Times bestseller list for 19 weeks and was translated into 26 languages worldwide. The novel tells a sweeping tale of love and betrayal, set in Hong Kong during and after World War II. In July 2015 Lee announced that her follow-up novel would be titled ''

The Expatriates ''Expats'' is an upcoming American drama streaming television series based on the 2016 novel ''The Expatriates'' by Janice Y. K. Lee that is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video. Premise ''Expats'' follows "the vibrant lives of a close-knit e ...

'' and follow three American ex-pats living in Hong Kong. The novel was published in January 2016. In February 2017 it was announced that

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

and her production company

Blossom Films Blossom Films is a production company founded by American-born Australian actress Nicole Kidman in 2010. The first production by the company was the film '' Rabbit Hole'', based on the play of the same name by David Lindsay-Abaire. History In 201 ...

had optioned ''The Expatriates'' to be adapted as a television series. Screenwriter Alice Bell is attached to write the adaptation, and there is potential for Kidman to star. Both of Lee's novels have been published to critical acclaim. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Book Review called Lee " female, funny Henry James in Asia," and the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' praised her "talent for infusing much-needed moments of reflection into what could otherwise devolve into maudlin melodrama".

Personal life

Lee is of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

descent. She was born and raised in Hong Kong before moving to the United States for school. She married fellow Korean-American Joseph Bae in 1996. They live in New York City with their four children.

Selected works

* '' The Piano Teacher'' (2009) * ''The Expatriates'' (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Janice Y. K. Chinese emigrants to the United States American women writers American writers of Korean descent Living people Harvard University alumni Hunter College alumni 1972 births 21st-century American women