Jean Kwok
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
Author of SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE
“SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE is a suspenseful family drama about long-buried family secrets that tie together three women – a mother and her two daughters - and what happens in this Chinese immigrant family when the gifted, dazzling eldest daughter disappears on a trip to the Netherlands and the younger, timid, shy daughter has to pull herself together and follow the tracks of her beloved older sister to try to figure out what happened to her.
The story is told by each of the three women – the mother and the two daughters, in their own voices and in their own languages. Of course, the book’s written in English but each woman is thinking in her own language – English, Chinese and Dutch -and is confined and freed by the perspective of her culture. It’s an exploration of passionate love, the love between mothers and daughters, and how the limits of culture and language can stop us from truly knowing the people we love most in the world.”
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
Author I draw inspiration from: I've always been inspired by Margaret Atwood. She's not only a beautiful writer, but she's both very carefully structured and incredibly free and wild.
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
Favorite place to read a book: I have a wonderfully soft, mint-green couch in my bedroom that has a chaise longue and I love curling up on it, both to read and to write.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I'd love to be stuck in an elevator with Elizabeth Bennet of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen. Lizzy is witty, intelligent, complex and provocative - what better way to pass the time?
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I think I realized this much later than most people do. I'm a first generation immigrant. I was really poor and worked in a clothing factory in Manhattan's Chinatown as a child. I loved to read but becoming a writer didn't occur to me. I was only focused on carving a life for myself outside of that factory. Years later, when I was an undergraduate at Harvard majoring in physics, I was up late trying to finish a problem set. I was scribbling on a note pad and suddenly, I wrote a poem! I was so surprised. It was as if I'd laid an egg. That was the beginning and soon after that, becoming an author was the only thing I wanted to do.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: All of the above! I read so much, however, that much of my own library is now electronic because I just can't fit all of those books in my house. That said, I love the feel and smell of hardcovers and paperbacks and will often buy a book I love in multiple formats. And I have a special place in my heart for audiobooks because I get to choose the narrators for my novels and I'm just blown away by how they bring my work to life. It's amazing to hear something I've written be read with so much feeling and wit.
The last book I read: An ARC of HALF LIFE by Jillian Cantor, which will be available in March. Such a great read - a wonderful sliding-doors reimagining of the passionate life of Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize – and the life she might have led if she had chosen love over science.
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
Pen & paper or computer: Computer because my handwriting is completely illegible, also to myself. I do keep pen and paper everywhere for those sudden moments of inspiration but will often be found frowning at them, trying to decipher what I wrote.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Jo March of LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott. Jo's altruistic, fun, a tomboy and loves to write - we'd have so much fun together.
Author Interview - Jean Kwok
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Dancer or a scientist. I'd already worked at three laboratories in NYC before leaving for college: a molecular biology lab and a genetic engineering lab at Sloan-Kettering, and an interface physics lab at the Brooklyn Veterans Hospital. And I love to dance. I worked as a professional ballroom dancer for three years at Fred Astaire Studios in NY in between my degrees at Harvard and Columbia.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I know nothing about fashion whatsoever. I guess I don't like bell bottoms? And I like clean, un-ruffly lines and solid colors.
Place I’d most like to travel: I'd love to go to the Polynesian islands. The white sand, turquoise water and fascinating animals - paradise.
My signature drink: Tea, tea and more tea. I love many different types of tea, ranging from Earl Grey to Japanese genmaicha tea, which is green tea with added roasted, popped rice. So soothing and delicious.
Favorite artist: Rembrandt, especially his late phase.
Number one on my bucket list: Answering this question makes me realize how lucky I am. At the top used to be things like publishing a book and seeing Europe but I'm working on my fourth novel now and I actually live in the Netherlands and have been to many places in Europe. I guess I'd love to take a trip around the world someday. There are so many fascinating places to see and experience.
Anything else you'd like to add: Thank you so much for having me - I'm honored!
Find more from the author:
Instagram: @jeankwokauthor
Twitter: @jeankwok
Facebook: @jeankwokauthor
Author Bio: Jean Kwok is the award-winning, NewYork Times and international bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee, Girl in Translation and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in twenty countries and taught in universities, colleges, and high schools across the world. Jean has been chosen for numerous honors including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. An instant New York Times bestseller, Searching for Sylvie Lee was selected for the Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club and featured in The NewYork Times, Time, Newsweek, CNN, The New York Post, The Washington Post, O Magazine, People, Entertainment Weekly and more. She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard and completed an MFA in fiction at Columbia University. She lives in the Netherlands.
