Synopsis:

In 1869 Japan, a young woman escapes the confines of her arranged marriage by painting memories of the man she loves on mulberry paper. When her husband, a talented potter and government official, arranges for his next delivery of wares to Europe, she hides her painting in the shipment.

In France, a disenchanged young man works as a clerk at an import shop. When he opens the wooden crate from Japan, he discovers the brilliant watercolor of two lovers locked in an embrace under a plum tree. He steals it and hides it in his room only to become obsessed with the painting and its meaning.

Set near the new capital of Tokyo during the Meiji period and in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, The Painting is a richly imagined story of four people whose lives are delicately and powerfully entertwined: Ayoshi, the painter, pines for her lover as she dutifully attends to her husband; Ayoshi's husband, Hayashi, scarred by a deadly fire that almost killed him as a child, has his own well of secret yearnings; Jorgen, crippled by the war and tormented by his own lost love, buries himself in work at the Paris shop; and the shop owner's sister, Natalia, determined to fight for the French cause, seeks Jorgen's help and shows him the true message of the painting.

Book Excerpt:

Japan 1869 Perhaps she will provide a distraction, he thinks, trying not to look at the once elegant teahouse still smoldering from last night's fire. Even from his spot behind the glass, he smells the bitter smoke, though he imagines he is more sensitive to it than others. And when he breathes, the gritty soot hurts his lungs. He thinks he knows who set the fire and even why; he just isn't sure what to do. He looks until his limbs quiver, his feet ache, and now he must grip the edge of the wall to steady himself.

Whatever is she doing?

Write a Review »

Best Sellers:

The San Francisco Chronicle; Marin Independent Journal

Type of Work:

Novel

Publishers:

Algonquin Books

Awards:

Nominated for the Northern California Book Award

Original Publish Date:

10/01/2004

Formats:

Hardback