Publisher's Synopsis
The Silkworm is about a mid-life crisis - a transitional stage of life that affects everyone. Can a woman become so bored of her "perfect" family life that its complacency drives her to create a parallel reality full of suspicion, recrimination, betrayal, and destruction. Is anyone's life ever what it seems? Will she stop on the edge just short of destroying everything that took years to create? This novel explores the themes of friendship, loyalty, kindness, and forgiveness. Unwillingness to listen to those who are closest to us gives way to passion and wisdom. The people who populate this novel strive to find the balance between their desire to be heard and the imperfections of those around them, their expectations and permission to allow those we love to fail. Katya Solovyov, once a student of Russian philology, and now a high school teacher in Montreal, Canada, created a cozy and comfortable life for herself. She is married to Swiss-born Canadian whom she met as an exchange student. Her husband, Eric, is an ardent student, teacher, and fan of Russian language and literature as well as all things Russian. Katya, her husband, and children live a quiet, suburban life that starts to feel lackluster. This feeling of something missing, feeling of a void, leads Katya to question the world around her and to imagine what it could be. Given a choice, she submits to the world of irrational fears and is now faced with creating a new reality for herself and those around her.
