At Night in the Floating World
Penny Doyle Douglas
- .
- .
- .in
- sumptuous
- suites,
- amid
- trailing
- puddles
- of
- silk
- and
- fervent
- whispers
- in
- the
- night.
- .
- .Government
- operative
- Nick
- Barber—an
- insomniac
- ex-soldier
- banking
- his
- earnings
- to
- fund
- a
- nebulous
- future—becomes
- entangled
- in
- revolutionary
- intrigue
- and
- enchanted
- by
- a
- seemingly
- unknowable,
- living
- artwork
- known
- only
- as
- Xie..
- .
- .during
- stolen
- after-hours
- encounters,
- through
- an
- exchange
- of
- ever-more-intimate
- letters.
- .
- .Beneath
- Xie’s
- luxurious
- gowns,
- priceless
- jewels,
- and
- ornately-painted
- face
- lives
- a
- man—Brighton
- James—with
- a
- talent
- for
- story-weaving,
- a
- hunger
- for
- beauty,
- and
- a
- need
- not
- for
- rescue,
- but
- for
- escape..
- .
- .in
- clandestine
- meetings
- fraught
- with
- the
- danger
- of
- exposure.
- .
- .As
- a
- one-world
- government
- balances
- repressive
- class
- distinctions
- and
- close
- controls
- on
- personal
- wealth
- and
- behavior
- by
- elevating
- leisure
- time
- to
- an
- art
- in
- designated
- pleasure
- districts.
- In
- a
- high-rise
- called
- the
- Icehouse—the
- glittering
- heart
- of
- these
- high-style
- centers
- of
- art
- and
- culture,
- and
- home
- of
- the
- celebrated
- urban
- geisha
- called
- Xie—a
- web
- of
- intrigue
- is
- exposed,
- tangling
- its
- denizens
- in
- gilded
- threads
- pulled
- taut
- with
- tension.
- As
- the
- world
- teeters
- on
- the
- brink
- of
- deadly
- revolution,
- Nick
- dives
- ever-deeper
- into
- political
- danger,
- while
- Brighton
- swims
- toward
- the
- surface
- of
- a
- threat
- much
- closer,
- much
- more personal.
