The Red Thread - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1740640136 ISBN 13: 9781740640138

Synopsis

Nicholas Jose's new novel is a love story that oscillates between contemporary Shanghai and ancient China. The hardback edition was published simultaneously by Faber in the UK and Chronicle Books in the US, and the film rights have already been optioned by an Australian production company. Shen, one of the main characters, acquires an extremely rare edition of Six Chapters of a Floating Life, a book written nearly two centuries before. The final two chapters of the book have never been found, however, and the classic is even more prized for its incompleteness. With his girlfriend, Ruth, an Australian artist, they become ever more enmeshed in Six Chapters as they discover that the book's characters and events almost exactly coincide with themselves and their lives. The future of their relationship and the prognosis for Ruth's failing health seem to be foretold in the missing chapters. In this compelling and unusual novel, author Nicholas Jose weaves sections of the original text of Six Chapters - in red type - through the contemporary story. Literally and figuratively, the threads of the two tales intertwine to resolve the fate of the two lovers.

About this title

Review

The Red Thread, set in contemporary Shanghai, is a love story and a skilled implicit defence of art. Shen Fu works at the first art auction house to open in Shanghai in recent times. An old man brings him an antique manuscript entitled "Six Chapters of the Floating World" to put up for auction. The last two chapters are missing. Shen begins reading the book and becomes so engrossed that he pulls it from the auction. He meets a young Australian artist named Ruth, who has moved to China as a result of a terminal-illness diagnosis. Ruth paints in

the traditional style known as exquisite brush ... In each picture there was a contrast between a traditional element and something contemporary. A black and orange butterfly alighting on a computer screen ... A tiny gold Buddha sitting beside an ultrasound scanner that showed the shadowy form of an unborn child. The past and the present juxtaposed. Creation and destruction. Nature and technology. Contending powers. Yin and Yang. Each picture was stamped with a red seal.

The style and concerns of Nicholas Jose's novel are neatly encapsulated in Ruth's art. Ruth and Shen embark on a quest to find the missing two chapters of the manuscript. Their love-story becomes interwoven with the plot of the manuscript. Past and present blur, truth and fiction merge in a Jose's multi-layered description of art as love and love as art. Jose's previous works include The Custodians and Chinese Whispers, in which he traverses the globe from Europe to Asia to the Australian outback.

About the Author

Nicholas Jose is the author of The Custodians, The Rose Crossing, and three other novels, and is the translator of two volumes of Chinese poetry. Born in London, he lived for many years in China and now resides in Sydney, Australia.

Edition details

• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1740640136
• ISBN 13: 9781740640138
• Binding: Paperback