ABOUT
THE BOOK

When an epidemic in the 1860s threatens to destroy the French silk trade, merchant Hervé Joncour travels to Japan to obtain eggs for a new breeding of silk worms. Japan is closed to foreigners and his journey must be clandestine. During his negotiations with the local baron, Joncour falls in love with the baron’s concubine. Although the girl  and the young Frenchman are unable of exchanging even a word, love blossoms between them, communicated through a number of recondite messages in the course of the four visits paid by Joncour to Japan. Silk narrates how their secret relationship unfolds. Alessandro Barrico was born in Turin and Silk, his third novel, has been translated into 16 languages.