The Red Thread

A seductive literary love story set in contemporary Shanghai, The Red Thread intertwines the lives of two pairs of lovers across the centuries. Shen, a young, American-educated appraiser in a Shanghai auction house, is captivated by Ruth, a self-possessed Australian artist who happens into one of his auctions. As they fall in love, Shen finds that their lives are strangely mirrored by those of the characters in a rare Chinese manuscript that is nearly two hundred years old, and of which the last two chapters have never been found. Shen's search for the final chapters goes from one of curiosity to one of desperation when he realizes that the future of their relationship, and the prognosis for Ruth's failing health, seem to be foretold in the missing pages. Interwoven in the novel and presented in red type are passages from the actual nineteenth century memoir Six Chapters of a Floating Life that illuminate the lovers' parallel lives. An elegant and multilayered novel, drawing comparisons with Memoirs of a Geisha and The English Patient, The Red Thread is evocative, moving, and unforgettable.