Silk

The year is 1861. Hervé Joncour is a French merchant of silkworms, who combs the known world for their gemlike eggs. Then circumstances compel him to travel farther, beyond the edge of the known, to a country legendary for the quality of its silk and its hostility to foreigners: Japan.There Joncour meets a woman. They do not touch; they do not even speak. And he cannot read the note she sends him until he has returned to his own country. But in the moment he does, Joncour is possessed.

Editorial Reviews

Silk has the brilliant colors . . . and the enchantment of a miniature. . . . Vividly erotic.“ -Newsday“A riveting, lyrical love story, an accomplished historical fiction, a compact, condensed . . . epic about human hearts in crisis.“ -Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered“A book with language to savor. . . . It seems as guileless as a folk tale but propels a reader with real force.“ -Denver Post“A heart-breaking love story. . . A stylistic tour de force [and] a literary gem of bewitching power.“ -The Sunday Times
– From the Publisher