91 pages
English language
Published Aug. 25, 1997 by Harvill Press.
France, 1861. When an epidemic threatens to wipe out the silk trade in France, silkworm breeder Herve Joncour 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.
Better than I'd have thought because I don't usually go for books that "read like fables." It's super short—you'll read it in a day—but there's a lot going on in it. It might annoy some with the repetition, which can come off as too cute, but it belongs in a book like this.
A quiet book that becomes so powefull in its last pages you have to be tough not to cry out loud.
Aussi bref qu’intense, aussi limpide que soyeux, ce très court roman va à l’essentiel, sans fioritures, pour mieux refléter la vie neutre du personnage, dont il est le spectateur ni heureux ni malheureux. Poétique et minimaliste, cette histoire si simple se laisse lire tout en douceur. Hervé Joncour interrompt le cours de sa vie tranquille par des voyages répétés au Japon, qui feraient partie de sa routine sans cette femme mystérieuse qu’il y croise à chaque fois. Étrange et envoûtant.
