The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee

This book presented me with a book lover's dilemma: I didn't want to put it down, but I didn't want it to end.

<i>The Expatriates</i> encapsulates what it is to be adrift in a foreign land. It follows the separate but intertwined stories of Mercy, a recent Columbia grad, Margaret, a mother, and Hilary, who is desperate to become one. For various reasons, these American women and their families are all living in Hong Kong. In their new setting, each are doing their best to acclimate to their environment while navigating all-encompassing personal issues that arise after they've moved.

The character development was so well executed and the plot so rich, I feel that these three women could have been the protagonist of a book each in their own right. There's quite a melancholy tone throughout the novel (which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but one of my favourite fictional elements) however, ultimately it's tempered with a lot of hope. The women are experiencing pain and purpose unique to each of their situations. The setting being a foreign one only reinforces that feeling of not knowing quite what to expect, of trying to fit in and navigating not only a new way of life, but also their overwhelming emotions.

It's a testament to the author's writing style that even the secondary characters were just as intriguing and the pace of the book kept me on my toes throughout. There is an underlying fervor of just wanting to find out how these dilemmas will be resolved which helped propel the book along, never once feeling like any situation or sentence was out of place.

So how did I resolve my dilemma? Ultimately, I paced myself and savoured every nuanced word. But now a new dilemma presents itself: that of trying to find another book that pulls me in the way and keeps me guessing the way this one did...