ISBN: 9780307277978

Synopsis Set in 1861, this startling, sensual, hypnotically compelling novel tells a story of adventure, sexual enthrallment, and a love so powerful that it unhinges a mans life.

Bookclub Review Silk by Alessandro Baricco

Artfully written, it’s the story of a man who leaves his wife in France to travel to Japan to buy silk worm eggs, and there falls in love (or becomes obsessed) with an unobtainable woman. It is elegantly told in 130 pages and 61 chapters leaving, if you choose to do so, plenty of reading to be done between its lines.

What the group thought
I can safely say the group was divided on this book. For everyone who thought it a too-thin novel there was another who thought it the near perfect short story. A few saw a simple and superficial yarn, others a dark, deep, subtle, symbolic history. Perhaps like a silk kimono it just isn’t substantial enough for some, but the group did agree that there is much to admire in its elegance and craft.