Ellis Avery's first novel, THE TEAHOUSE FIRE, came out last winter from Riverhead Books. The winner of a Lambda Literary award and an Ohioana Library award, THE TEAHOUSE FIRE was also named a Booksense pick and a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book.

Please ask your local independent bookstore to order a copy, or buy it online from Powell's, Giovanni's Room, Amazon, etc.

THE TEAHOUSE FIRE explores the shifting cultural ground of late 19th century Japan through the story of Aurelia, an orphaned American girl taken in by Yukako, the daughter of Kyoto's most important tea master, herself destined to change the fate of the Way of Tea.

Called "delicious" and "resplendent" by Maxine Hong Kingston, author of THE WOMAN WARRIOR and THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE, Avery's novel was declared "a heady brew" by Liza Dalby, author of THE TALE OF MURASAKI and the only Westerner ever to have become a geisha.

THE TEAHOUSE FIRE is available in Spanish and Dutch, and will be translated into Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, and German. Last winter it came out in hardcover and on audiobook. It will come out in paperback this winter from Riverhead in the US and from Vintage Originals in the UK.

New from In Pursuit of Tea: the official TEAHOUSE FIRE tea set!

Inspiration for THE TEAHOUSE FIRE came from five years of weekly tea ceremony study in New York and five weeks of daily tea study in Kyoto, where Avery spent most of 2004-2005.

Click here to read a glowing full-page review in the LA Times by Emily Barton, author of BROOKLAND.

To learn about the writing of THE TEAHOUSE FIRE, you can read Avery's essay on the Powell's Books website, or read interviews with her in Publishers Weekly, Small Spiral Notebook, The Brooklyn Rail, The Contra Costa Times, or KGB Bar Lit.

Click here to hear a clip from the audiobook of THE TEAHOUSE FIRE.

And now online, for your reading pleasure... the first chapter of THE TEAHOUSE FIRE!

If you need one, please click here for a denser version of the cover image.