The Red Thread [Paperback]

Nicholas Jose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002

Published to glowing reviews on three continents-the London Sunday Times calls it "exquisite," the Australian Bookseller & Publisher "completely enchanting," and Elle in the U.S. "elegant and haunting"-The Red Thread is now available in paperback. Set in contemporary Shanghai, this elegant and seductive love story revolves around Shen, an art appraiser, and Ruth, a young Australian woman, who find their lives strangely mirrored in Six Chapters of a Floating Life, an actual centuries-old Chinese manuscript that is missing the final chapters. A moving and richly layered novel, The Red Thread interweaves love and destiny, art and beauty, and the passion that ties one person to another forever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A mysterious but classic work of Chinese literature exerts an influence on an unusual love triangle in this beguiling new novel by Australian writer Jose (The Rose Crossing). In Jose's stylish romance, modern-day Shanghai is a forward-looking economic empire, yet still a city consumed by its pastAghosts haunt temples and lakes, hotels are built on graveyards and the specter of Red China is ubiquitous. These contrasts are personified by Shen Fuling, a young art dealer who along with Australian artist Ruth Garrett and "half glamour queen, half street kid" Han share names with characters in a real memoir entitled Six Chapters of a Floating Life, written by Chinese writer Shen Fu in 1808. Just after Shen receives a first edition of the opening four chapters of the work for auction, he meets Ruth and becomes convinced that he and his soon-to-be lover are reincarnated versions of its protagonists, Shen and Yun. When Han encounters the couple at a nightclub, the connection she feels to Ruth is as strong as Shen's, and the three play out a life that somehow has been lived before. But the incomplete manuscript of Floating Life ends with Yun's death, and Shen's discovery that Ruth has cancer prompts a search for the missing chapters and an alternative ending to the tragic story. Jose's use of Shen Fu's memoir, which he translated himself from the Chinese, is quirky and inventive: lines from the memoir are woven seamlessly into the novel, sometimes uttered by characters in mid-conversation, and culminate in an ingeniously imagined version of the lost two chapters. Red-type passages and sentences appear in both stories as bloodlines, connections to the past. Sections from Floating Life, symbolizing the ever-renewing passion of its lovers, dominate, but the highlighted fragments of Shen Fu's story are the most potent, a reminder of the immutability of art in a world where history has ostensibly given way to commerce. For those who share Jose's sensibilities, his tale lingers well after the last page. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The cosmopolitan Jose was born in London, raised in Australia (his parents' home), and spent the late '80s in China, first as a teacher, then as Australian cultural attache. Here, he writes a love story of contemporary China that celebrates Shen Fu's classic nineteenth-century love story, Six Chapters of a Floating Life. Shen Fu and his beloved wife, Yun, are the protagonists of the classic story; excerpts of that four-chapter document are printed in red here. In modern China, Shen Fuling is an American-educated art expert, working for an auction house in rapidly modernizing Shanghai. About the time he begins reading Six Chapters, he meets and falls in love with Ruth, a frail Australian artist. Their story seems to echo that of the earlier Shen and his wife, and when Ruth becomes ill--as Yun did in the story-- Shen obsessively seeks chapters five and six, missing from the document since it was first published. An involving novel animated by Buddhism's "red thread of passion," which connects individuals to each other and to the world. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811836908
• ISBN-13: 978-0811836906
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,707,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably not everyone's cup of green tea, December 29, 2000

By 

"thirteenthfairy" (, N.S.W. Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Red Thread: A Love Story (Hardcover)

I don't read much fiction. When I do it is usually by accident. This one was a happy accident. It has all the things I like in it. Antiques and curios, art, ancient scriptures, asian food, chinese herbal medicine, reincarnation, even embroidered shoes.

The love story is far from traditional and it would not surprise me if many readers missed the point entirely. I suppose also a good deal of readers would not consider the ending happy. Thank goodness there are some writers who do not write for the majority. Sorry I can't tell you why four stars and not five stars, this would spoil the book for you...........I don't like it when reviews tell too much of the story and give away the plot.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A dry story, December 10, 2000

By 

L. A. Olsson (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Red Thread: A Love Story (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I was interested to read a story set in modern Shanghai. In this respect I was not disappointed. The Red Thread does provide some interesting and evocative descriptions of the city and its surrounds. However, as a love story it is impossible. The main characters are wooden and superficially developed; in fact, some of the minor characters are more interesting. The technique of telling the story in parallell with the story of the old manuscript might have worked, had the old story been more intriguing, and the new one alive with believable passion. As it is, it is as dry as the paper of the old manuscript.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Very Hard Love Story to Follow..., March 20, 2002

By 

Bookworm3 - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Red Thread: A Love Story (Hardcover)

When I began reading "The Red Thread," I was very interested in the plot twists and history of the story itself. However, as the book continues, I found myself struggling to keep interest. The past lives/loves of our two main characters is fascinating, and especially the "soul mate" quality of the ancient book linking their reincarnation... but the author, unfortunately, does not keep this excitement. Plus, the introduction of a third character that seems "thrown in" to make a better story, just doesn't seem to fit with the majestic theme. I kept reading the story for the simple fact that I thought it would get better, in a sense-make a full circle, and I never came to a conclusion. Perhaps that is the point, however, to come to that realization is a step far beyond what the author projected.