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Original poster

Any idea what this book is?

29 replies

MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 18:36

I was speaking to expat on a book thread last night and was reminded of a book I have read fairly recently (or at least I think it was a book) where a girl leaves home with some of her mother's silk worms in a box and IIRC has a traumatic time and all the silk worms die.

My intial thought was that it was Memoirs of a Geisha but today I don't think so.

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sniff · 21/11/2006 12:17

you are right its exactly what the story was about but there was no mention of crossgender in the story as in middlesex in fact although I have it here I didnt think I had read it but I will now thanks very much

fennel · 20/11/2006 21:17

Strange. I really enjoyed Middlesex but have no memory of the worms or silk. I thought it was all about sex

earlysbird · 20/11/2006 16:36

I'm so sad aren't I?! I have so many things to do but re-reading a fab book like that seems like a far better idea

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 16:34

Thinking more about it the first part of the book with the couple leaving Greece (think I said Italy earlier) seemed a separate story from the main part of the book and perhaps that is why I didn't think it was Middlesex, grasping at straws here.

Thanks, can sleep at night now.

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mummycan · 20/11/2006 16:33

Have to hang my head in shame - Earlybird - you are right - you clever thinG!

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 16:32

LOL and thank you so much EB!

I was just about to post this as more confirmation of the silk worms.

It must have been Middlesex afterall.

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earlysbird · 20/11/2006 16:28

ok, I have Middlesex here in front of me...
p4 my grandmother desdemona got her silkworm box
p20 (flashback) desdemona was in her silkworm cocoonery
p25 her brother goes off to sell silkworms at the market
p43 she went inside to say her goodbyes to the silkworms...picked a coccon off a branch and put it in her pocket
p63 start of chapter 'the silk road' chinese legend about cocoon
p69 silkworm eggs wrapped in wedding corset
p82 silkwormn eggs on list of parasites, forced to dump them

obviously I'm paraphrasing and these are just a few examples

mummycan · 20/11/2006 16:14

I think I've read this book as well - I've read Middlesex but I don't think that was it - could be wrong - have useless memory nowadays - but I thought it was an oriental type of book - maybe one of the Amy Tan ones

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 16:11

There was an awful lot about tulips in Middlesex.

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Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 16:10

Please EB, otherwise I'm going to end up buying another copy on Amazon just to put my mind at rest!

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motherinferior · 20/11/2006 15:58
earlysbird · 20/11/2006 15:57

I think its Middlesex too

motherinferior · 20/11/2006 15:53

It's in Middlesex. It is.

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 15:48

Doh, sorry Sniff, just re-read your post, you're not meaning Middlesex.

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Original poster
MrsSpoon · 20/11/2006 15:46

sniff, do you mean Middlesex?

It's still bugging me and I am now seeing sense in keeping books, even although I rarely re-read, at least I could check this sort of thing out!

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sniff · 20/11/2006 13:31

yes the silkworms were what the book was about I cant believe I cant find it

Californifrau · 19/11/2006 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 20:42

Also did the silk worms not belong to the girl's mother or something, I thought she took them after her mother died?

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Original poster
MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 20:42

sniff, the book I am thinking on IIRC they did start growing/breeding them again. I also thought the silk worms were more central to the story than I thought they would have been in Middlesex. Also I read Middlesex a few years back and thought this silk worms business was in a more recent book, however my memory is awful so this doesn't count for much.

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sniff · 19/11/2006 19:18

i thought in this book they started growing them in sheds again and she was in love with someone

sniff · 19/11/2006 19:18

i thought in this book they started growing them in sheds again and she was in love with someone

Original poster
MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 19:00

By them I mean the silk worms.

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Original poster
MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 18:59

Ah, just looked up Middlesex on the net MI, you could very well be right I had forgotten about the grandparents (?) coming over from Italy, they didn't allow them on the boat?

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Original poster
MrsSpoon · 19/11/2006 18:56

I've read Middlesex but I didn't think it was Middlesex. I haven't read the Bonesetter's Daughter (althought it is in my to be read mountain) so it's not that.

Seem to remember some mention of the silk worms being smelly.

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sniff · 19/11/2006 18:53

his last name is Eugenides he wrote the virgin suicides but middlesex isnt the book I was thinking of but I cant find it