Beijing, 1322.
So, with a small band of companions, she takes to the road--the Silk Road--that storied collection of routes that link the silks of Cathay, the spices of the Indies and the jewels of the Indus to the mark.
Johanna\'s destiny--if she has one--lies with her grandfather, in Venice.
In the wake of her father\'s death, Johanna finds that lineage counts for little amid the disintegrating court of the Khan.
Sixteen-year-old Wu Johanna is the granddaughter of the legendary trader Marco Polo.
Beijing, 1322