The Silk Road begins on a mat in yoga class, deep within a labyrinth on a settlement somewhere in the icy north, under the canny guidance of Jee Moon. When someone fails to arise from corpse pose, the Astronomer, the Archivist, the Botanist, the Keeper, the Topologist, the Geographer, the Iceman, and the Cook remember the paths that brought them there--paths on which they still seem to be traveling. The Silk Road also begins in rivalrous skirmishing...

A surrealistic novel on two families in Philadelphia, one made up of real people, the other of dolls who have a life of their own. This is just one of several plots in the book. Another deals with the 19th century writer Edwina Moss, an expert on home economics, writing a book on Antonin Careme who was Napoleon's chef and became famous for his desserts. By the author of The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf.