(Yonhap Interview) Novelist Janice Y.K. Lee

(Yonhap Interview) 'Unconscious, unplanned' passion for writing leads to delightful
debut novel
(ATTN: photos available)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- As some of the world's most acclaimed authors have
admitted, writing is a process of constant agony and careful planning in which
one must aim to kill two elusive birds -- commercial and critical success -- with
one stone.
But for Janice Y.K. Lee, the ethnic Korean author of the bestselling "The Piano
Teacher," writing is a "very unconscious, unplanned process," and all the
planning and worrying comes later.
"The plot of the book came as I wrote. I just tried to write the best book I
could and worry about other stuff later," Lee said in an email interview. "I
wanted to be a writer since I was young and never really wanted to do anything
else besides read and write books."
Lee's "unplanned" yet sincere goal appears to have touched readers instantly. Her
debut novel shot to 11th on the New York Times fiction bestseller list less than
two weeks after publication. The Washington Post, in its review of the novel,
called it "something altogether haunting."
The book, first offered at the German Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007, will be
published in 21 languages and is expected to hit the author's native country
soon.
"I very much hope that a Korean publisher will translate it so that Koreans may
read it in Korean," Lee said, revealing affection for her motherland. "As my kids
get older and it becomes easier to travel, I plan to bring them more frequently
to Korea as I think it's important for them to get to know their native country."

The 37-year-old author, whose Korean name is Lee Yoon-kyung, said she began to
write her debut novel in 2002. The first half of the book was written in New York
and the rest in Hong Kong, where she now lives with her husband and four
children.
"I first thought of the characters -- an English piano teacher and her young
Chinese student -- and the story came from them," she said. "I don't think the
subject matter can help you write a good book. There are only so many stories in
the world: it is how you describe them that will make the difference in whether
you write a good book or not."
"The Piano Teacher" is a gripping tale of love, betrayal, safety and survival set
in war-torn Hong Kong during World War II.
In 1942, an Englishman named Will arrives in Hong Kong and falls in love with
Trudy, an enchanting but scheming Eurasian socialite. Their burgeoning romance is
threatened by the invasion of the Japanese, an event that is both physically and
emotionally wounding for the members of their fragile society in the darkest days
of the war.
Ten years later, a young newlywed, Claire, comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the
wealthy Chen family as their daughter's piano teacher. There she falls into a
deliciously dangerous affair with Will, only to discover his devastating past.
"I did a lot of research because I needed to be able to see and feel the world I
was writing about," Lee said. "Since it was before my time, I needed to learn
everything. It was also a very specific part of Hong Kong society that I was
writing about: the old, expatriate lifestyle which was very privileged and
insular."
"I don't know why this time period caught my attention," she added. "But it
seemed very glamorous to me, and I hadn't known about it before, even though I
had been raised in Hong Kong."
Although none of the main characters appear particularly charming or likable, as
each has a particular weakness, Lee describes them in colorful and gripping
details, enthralling readers and forcing them to keep turning pages.
"I took a lot of pleasure in creating this world with these characters that I
imagined. I feel attached to all of the characters," she said.
Lee was born to Korean parents in Hong Kong, raised there and went to boarding
school in the United States before attending Harvard University. She is a former
features editor for the magazines Elle and Mirabella in New York.
Neither her Korean ethnicity nor experiences in different countries influenced
the book directly, she said.
"Certainly, being Korean informs my life to a large degree, but in this aspect
(influencing the book or the plot), not so much," she said. "Living in Hong Kong
and the U.S. also were not largely influential in the writing of the book
either."
Lee said she plans to get her second book started soon, adding that it "may take
a while," as she is a relatively slow writer.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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