In late 19th century Japan, a young woman escapes the confines of her arranged marriage by painting memories of her lover on mulberry paper. She secretly wraps the painting around her husband's ceramic pot, which is bound for Europe. In France, a disenchanted young man works as a clerk at an import shop. When he opens the box from Japan, he discovers the brilliant watercolor of two lovers locked in an embrace under a plum tree. He steals the paintings and hides it in his room. With each viewing, he sees something different, and gradually is transformed by the painting.

Set near the capital of Tokyo during the Meiji period and in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, The Painting is a richly imagined story of four people whose lives are delicately and intricately entwined. The novel explores the questions: what is the purpose of beauty? What is the purpose of art? Of longing? Can beauty help transcend suffering?

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