Book description
France, 1861. When an epidemic threatens to wipe out the silk trade in
France, Herve Joncour (a young silkworm breeder) has to travel overland
to distant Japan, out of bounds to foreigners, to smuggle out healthy
silkworms. In the course of his secret negotiations with the local
baron, Joncour's attention is arrested by the man's concubine, a girl
who does not have oriental eyes. Although they are unable to exchange so
much as a word, love blossoms between them, a love that is conveyed in a
number of recondite messages. How their secret affair develops is told
in this remarkable love story.
