Haru, a successful Japanese art dealer, appreciates beauty, harmony, balance and good sake. One evening at a party he meets Maud, an enigmatic Frenchwoman, and after a brief intense romance he learns that she is pregnant with his child. But Maud issues him a heartbreaking warning: if he ever tries to see her or the child, she will kill herself.

Quietly devastated, Haru resigns himself to loving his daughter from afar. And Rose grows up on the other side of the world, without ever knowing her father. Is it too late to change things?From international bestseller Muriel Barbery., this is a stunning tale of friendship, secrets and a father's enduring love.