Synopsis: Japan,
1868: the last shogun has been defeated, the age of the emperors is about to
begin - and in Japan's frozen north a diehard band of loyalists plans a
desperate last stand. Hana is just seventeen when her husband goes to war,
leaving her alone and very vulnerable. When enemy soldiers attack her house she
flees for her life across the shattered city of Tokyo and takes refuge in the
Yoshiwara, its famous pleasure quarter. There she is sold into a brothel and
forced to train as a courtesan. Yozo, a traveller, adventurer and brilliant
swordsman, returns to Japan after six years in the Victorian West to discover
that the world he left behind him has been destroyed. Travelling north to join
his rebel comrades, he is captured during their final battle. Escaping, he
makes his way south to the only place where a man is beyond the reach of the
law - the Yoshiwara. There in the Nightless City where three thousand
courtesans mingle with geishas and jesters, the battered fugitive meets the
beautiful courtesan. But each has a secret so terrible that once revealed it
will threaten not only their union - but their very lives...
My thoughts: Very
well written and well documented with a natural connection between history and
fiction. What lacked for me, however, was the absence of dynamism, maybe
because of the presence of a lot of narration and less of dialogue and interaction
between characters.
If
you are a fan of anime and watched Hakuoki Shinsengumi, you’ll be able
to identify immediately the link, since both anime and book talk about the same
time lapse in Japan’s History. You’ll see that Commandant Yamaguchi is actually
Hijikata-san, the most capable swordfighter from the militia.
Something
that really got my eyes is the capacity of the author to tell a good story with
sufficient details to make the scenes alive in my head. Furthermore, her love
and passion for the Japanese culture makes this novel very recommended for those who love it as well.
Despite
the compliments above, the lack of dynamism really caught me. Honestly, what
made me continue this book through until the end was my wish to see the main
characters encounter and because of my own fanaticism and love for this
culture. This novel was more like a historical account than a novel in itself
because of the few dialogues in the beginning of the book and until at least
its half.
Rate:
