One Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, Sam Merlin, a trader in authentic and fake antiquities, witnesses a human stampede. During the stampede, Merlin helps a young woman, Melinda Lin, to safety. This meeting propels Merlin into a relationship that involves him in Melinda's quest to find her mother, a confrontation with the mysterious Jim Thompson, the founder of a famous Thai silk enterprise, and the dangerous Khmer RougeSet largely in a violent Cambodia, this mesmerizing tale of love and betrayal is also a story about cultural and religious passion in an ever changing natural world.