The fates of two women—one Japanese, one American—become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and westernization.

When nine-year-old Aurelia Bernard takes shelter in Kyoto's Baishian teahouse after a fire one night in 1866, she is unaware of the building's purpose. She has just fled her only family: an abusive missionary uncle on assignment to Christianize Japan.

Mistaken for the abandoned daughter of a prostitute, Aurelia is taken in by the Shin family. She becomes the attendant and surrogate younger sister of Shin Yukako, daughter of Kyoto's most important tea master and one of the first women to openly practice the Way of Tea. For hundreds of years, women have been barred from this sacred ceremonial event; now, as Japan opens its doors to the West, women must save it. From her privileged position, Aurelia aids in Yukako's crusade to preserve the tea ceremony and the cultural identity it once embodied. And Aurelia herself survives, overcomes, and finds her path in a world that does not welcome outsiders.

"A sensuous, luminously written adventure flavored with history and steeped in culture."
     —Susan Jane Gilman


Audiobook    Unabridged; 18½ hours on 15 CDs
978-1-59887-078-7 (1-59887-078-5) CD The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
 

ELLIS AVERY studied Japanese tea ceremony for five years in New York and Kyoto. Her work has appeared in the Village Voice, Kyoto Journal, and Pacific Reader, as well as onstage at New York's Expanded Arts Theater. She lives in New York City and teaches creative writing at Columbia University.