A seductive literary love story set in contemporary Shanghai, The Red Thread intertwines the lives of two pairs of lovers across the centuries. Shen, a young, American-educated appraiser in a Shanghai auction house, is captivated by Ruth, a self-possessed Australian artist who happens into one of his auctions. As they fall in love, Shen finds that their lives are strangely mirrored by those of the characters in a rare Chinese manuscript that is nearly...