Silk - by Alessandro Barrico

In 1860s France, silkworm merchant Hervé Joncour travels repeatedly to secret, closed Japan to buy healthy eggs. On these journeys he becomes obsessed with a mysterious, silent woman who belongs to a local warlord. Though they never speak, a single glance and a hidden note bind him to an impossible love. He returns home to his devoted wife Hélène, carrying the ache of what can never be. Desire, distance, and silence slowly unravel his quiet life.