Book Review: The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee

The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.5 stars)

This review contains minor spoilers

I have always been drawn to fiction about the inner lives of women, so this novel drew me in from the synopsis. The Expatriates is about three women who have uprooted their lives in America in order to live in Hong Kong, although they have different reasons for doing so. Mercy is a young Korean American graduate from Columbia, disillusioned because she is unable to hold down a regular job despite her prestigious degree. Margaret and her husband have moved to Hong Kong because of his company, and all is well until one of her children go missing during a vacation to Korea. Hilary similarly follows her husband to Hong Kong, but their marriage isn’t going well, either—she’s wearily resigned to her childlessness, and she has lost the will to take action in her life, something that characterised her before she came to Hong Kong.

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