Jennifer Cody Epstein

Jennifer Cody Epstein is the internationally best-selling author of The Painter from Shanghai, and the novel The Gods of Heavenly Punishment. She resides in New York City and lives with her husband and daughters. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree, a Masters in International relations and a Bachelor's degree in Asian Studies and English.[1]

Aside from her work as a novelist, she has written for NBC, HBO and The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Nation (Thailand), Self, and Mademoiselle magazines. Epstein has also worked in Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan, where she lived for five years as a student and a teacher, and in Hong Kong and Bangkok. She has taught at Columbia University in the United States, and internationally at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.

Epstein’s debut novel, The Painter from Shanghai, is the fictional autobiography of Pan Yuliang who lived from 1895 to 1977. She was a female Chinese painter who was revolutionary in bringing Western painting styles to China. From start to finish, in took Epstein ten years to complete the novel. The real Pan Yuliang’s life is shrouded in uncertainty and obscurity. So “this is not a factual account of Pan Yuliang’s life, [it is] a re-imagining.”[2] Epstein did much research, helping her to accurately portray the characters and the period.[3]

Her second novel, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment, is a fictional work about Japan and the life of young Yoshi Kobayashi during World War II. In the book, Yoshi has to struggle with the destruction of her city, life, love and secrets.[4] This novel was a work of fiction that forced Epstein to re-ignite her Japanese knowledge and research aspects of war.

References

  1. ↑ Epstein, Jennifer Cody. “Bio.” Jennifer Cody Epstein. N.p., 2014. Web.
  2. ↑ Dill, Margo. “20 Questions answered by Jennifer Cody Epstein.”. Web. 25 Nov. 2014
  3. ↑ Towers, Sarah. “The Emperor’s Club.” The New York Times. 23 Mar 2008. Web.
  4. ↑ “Jennifer Cody Epstein.” BookCourt. BookCourt, 14 Jan. Web.