Chapters 1-3 Summary

Silk is a novel about a man who travels the world, falls illicitly in love, succumbs to obsession, and learns the true worth of the woman he already has. The bulk of the story covers the years 1861 to 1865, but there are a few chapters that address the personal history of some characters and follow more extensively the lives of others. It is set primarily in Lavilledieu, in a small town in France. It describes the romantic adventure of a traveling silkworm egg trader, Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who falls in love with the mistress of a Japanese man.

The novel opens in 1861. Thirty-two-year-old Hervé Joncour is a silkworm trader. He lives in the town of Lavilledieu in the south of France with his wife, Hélène. Each January, Joncour travels thousands of miles across Europe and Asia to purchase silkworm...