Jean Kwok is the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Translation. Her new novel, Searching for Sylvie Lee is 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.
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.
Here are only a couple of the many fabulous reviews that have already arrived for Searching for Sylvie Lee:
“Like all most compelling mysteries, Jean Kwok’s Searching for Sylvie Lee has a powerful emotional drama at its heart. 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
“Searching for Sylvie Lee had me in its grip from the very first page and didn’t set me loose till the last. Apart from a moving portrait of two sisters, so very different in character, it also showed me my own country—The Netherlands—and its people from a perspective in which we Dutch seldom see it. Jean Kwok has the sharp and intelligent eye of the newcomer who has lived here long enough to know perfectly well what she does and doesn’t like about her second country. A wonderful portrait of an immigrant family life and one of the best ‘unputdownable’ suspense novels I’ve read in a long time.”
—Herman Koch, New York Times bestselling author of The Dinner
The LLF team was fortunate enough to meet Jean last week when she came into the New York office—bringing along some delicious chocolate from The Netherlands to share! After meeting Jean, we knew that she had to make a guest appearance on our podcast. Jean was so genuine and heartfelt in her conversation with her Editor, Jessica Williams, on this week's episode of Editors Unedited. Libraries were beacons of hope during Jean's childhood; it was important to have a safe, warm place to go as a young immigrant. This interview is truly beautiful and one that you don't want to miss. Hear the interview below:
In the interview, Jean mentions her brother, Kwan. Jean was kind enough to share a picture of Kwan and herself as kids. See the picture below:
What an adorable photo! Find out more about the book in Jean's Behind the Book Essay. We can't wait for you to read Searching for Sylvie Lee; you can download an egalley on Edelweiss now.
-Lainey