Searching for Sylvie Lee is
a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick on:
THE TODAY SHOW!

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.

NOW IN PAPERBACK


Searching for Sylvie Lee is
a Book Club Pick on:
THE TODAY SHOW!

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.

ON SALE NOW!

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLER
 
"A powerful emotional drama.”
—Paula Hawkins, #1 NYT bestselling author
“You can’t put it down!”
—Jenna Bush Hager, The TODAY SHOW Book Pick
"Compelling. With warmth and heart."
—The New York Times Book Review
"This summer’s book club sensation."
—Entertainment Weekly
“Poignant and propulsive.”
—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
"Beautifully written.”—The Washington Post
“Enlightening.” —Real Simple
“Emotional and thrilling page-turner.”—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Haunting.”—The New York Post
"Dazzling."
—CNN
"Piercing, inventive." —O Magazine
"Satisfying." —People
"Engrossing." —Los Angeles Review of Books

* Jenna Bush Hager’s Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick *

* Emma Roberts’ Belletrist Book Club Pick *

* Time Must-Read Book *

* New York Post, Marie Claire and Real Simple Best Book *

An INSTANT BESTSELLER on:

THE NEW YORK TIMES (BOTH HARDCOVER FICTION & COMBINED PRINT & EBOOK), USA TODAY, APPLE, AMAZON, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AND THE AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION BESTSELLER LISTS

BEST BOOK of summer according to: 

NEWSWEEK, MARIE CLAIRE, THE NY POST, O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE, REAL SIMPLE, PEOPLE, ELLE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, NYLON, THE WEEK, THE DAILY BEAST, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, BOOKBUB, CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER and more.

FEATURED & RECOMMENDED BY:

THE NEW YORK TIMES, TIME, NEWSWEEK, CNN, THE NEW YORK POST, THE WASHINGTON POST, AMAZON, O MAGAZINE, PEOPLE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, FORBES, INSTYLE, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, REAL SIMPLE, ELLE, MARIE CLAIRE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, THE SKIMM, TOWN & COUNTRY, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, YOU MAGAZINE, CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER, LIBRARY JOURNAL, LIT HUB, NYLON, BUZZFEED, REFINERY29, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE WEEK, POPSUGAR, THE DAILY BEAST, CRIME READS, BOOKBUB, BOOK RIOT,  BUSTLE, GOODREADS, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, KIRKUS, BOOKLIST, SHELF AWARENESS, SHE READS, SOCIETY19, THRILLIST, WOMEN.COM, THE EVERYGIRL, PUREWOW, PEN AMERICA, and more

“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
“Any of us can imagine if our sister or our best friend went missing. Amy is searching for her sister and the sisterhood is, I think, the most beautiful part of it. You can’t put it down!"
—Jenna Bush Hager, THE TODAY SHOW Book Club Pick
“Kwok’s story spans generations, continents and language barriers, combining old-fashioned Nancy Drew sleuthing with the warmth and heart we’ve come to expect from this gifted writer.... I lost myself in the music of Kwok’s story and heard a family trying to find their own harmony. If there’s a more familiar and beautiful sound, I don’t know what it is.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Before millions of viewers and followers, it’s emerged as the summer read of choice.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“O, The Oprah Magazine has shared its list of 32 books to read this summer: Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok. Both Jenna Bush Hager and Emma Roberts selected this fun mystery for their book clubs' June 2019 pick.”
—E! News
“Excellent from every angle, this is a can't-miss novel for lovers of poignant and propulsive fiction.”
—Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Searching for Sylvie Lee examines the complexities of identity, culture and family as Amy struggles to understand what happened to her sister.”
—Time
“A dazzling display of the unique bonds among women, mothers and daughters. It's a suspenseful read detailing what happens when the oldest daughter in a Chinese immigrant family disappears.”
—CNN
“A haunting novel.”
—The New York Post
“A moving tale that, while billed as a mystery, transcends the genre… a beautifully written story.”
—The Washington Post
“When the eldest daughter of an immigrant family goes missing, what ensues propels us through the depths of a family's secrets, complicated discoveries and what makes us individuals.”
—Newsweek
“Engrossing.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“I was only about two-thirds of the way through Jean Kwok's Searching For Sylvie Lee when I began telling everyone I know: 'I've found this book, you need to read it.' It's a thriller, and it's an immigrant story, and it's also a romance. I love a lot of books, but none quite like this one. This is a story like no other.”
—Marie Claire, The Best Women's Fiction of 2019
“Kwok’s tightly woven novel is an emotional and thrilling page-turner.”
—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
“Kwok’s piercing, inventive novel tracks the fates of an immigrant woman and her children following a disappearance."
—O Magazine
“A satisfying hybrid of mystery and family drama.”
—People
“Jean Kwok’s latest novel examines cultural and linguistic barriers, family secrets, change, and the expansive identities of immigrants.”
—PenAmerica, From Near and Far: A PEN Out Loud Reading List
“Sharply observed, with a plot as unpredictable as its moody Dutch landscape… a powerful meditation on loss, identity, and belonging.”
—Shelf Awareness, STARRED REVIEW
“Jean Kwok's Searching for Sylvie Lee is the smart literary thriller you want to read this summer.”
—Amazon
“Searching For Sylvie Lee has a mystery at its core, but it’s more an enlightening exploration of racism and the immigration experience.”
—Real Simple, The Short List: 5 Books That Won’t Disappoint
“A moving portrait of the unintended consequences that stem from an immigrant family’s efforts to adapt, survive, and provide their children with a better future.”
—Harper’s Bazaar
“Stunning. A profoundly moving portrayal of the complicated identities that exist even within a single family... and a graceful portrait of the sacrifices we make for love.”
—Nylon Magazine
“A gripping story about love and family secrets.”
—Good Housekeeping
“Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok is a mystery about a daughter's disappearance that will have you on the edge of your beach chair.”
—The Skimm
“More than a simple suspense tale of a missing young woman, this novel explores the complicated dynamics of immigrant families and the universal quest for belonging and identity.”
—Town & Country
“Searching For Sylvie Lee is riveting. A dazzling, talented woman disappears, leading her younger sister to search the Netherlands—and the past—for the truth. This novel is part mystery, part saga of an immigrant family. It is both gripping and emotionally resonant on every page—a remarkable achievement.”
—Scott Turow, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Testimony
Jean Kwok, photo by Chris Macke

Jean Kwok, photo by Chris Macke

Jean Kwok is the award-winning, New York 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. An instant New York Times bestseller, Searching for Sylvie Lee was selected for the Today Show Book Club and featured in The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, CNN, The New York Post, The Washington Post, O Magazine, People, Entertainment Weekly and more. Jean has been chosen for numerous honors including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, an Orange New Writers title and the Sunday Times Short Story Award international shortlist. She is trilingual, fluent in Dutch, Chinese, and English, and studied Latin for seven years. Jean immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a Chinatown clothing factory for much of her childhood. She received her bachelor's degree from Harvard and completed an MFA in fiction at Columbia University. She currently lives in the Netherlands… learn more