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東福門院和子の涙
徳川２代将軍の娘和子（まさこ）は、史上初めて、武家から朝廷に嫁ぎ、「稀なる福運の姫君」と称えられた。戦国を毅然として生きた女性・お市の方の血を引いて、自らの苦悩は決して語らない女性であったが、宮廷の冷たい仕打ちは、中宮の紅絹（もみ）の布が知っていた……。涙を秘めた慈愛の国母を描いて、深い感動をよぶ長編小説（講談社文庫）。
437 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 1996
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May 30, 2015
Miyao Tomiko (1926-2014) is one of a number of Japanese writers of historical fiction beloved in her homeland but virtually unknown abroad.
This novel, the title of which means literally "The Tears of Tōfukumon'in Masako," tells the story of Masako (1607-78), the youngest daughter of the second Tokugawa Shogun Hidetada (1579-1632; r. 1605-23). In 1620, she became the consort of Emperor GoMizuno'o (1596-1680; r. 1611-29). An imperial-Tokugawa child on the throne had been the ambition of her family for many years, and Masako did her best to fulfill their hopes: by 1629, she had given birth to five children and been promoted to empress, but both of the boys who might have become heir apparent had died. That meant that when Emperor GoMizuno'o suddenly abdicated on 1629.11.8, the longed-for imperial-Tokugawa emperor was a girl, six-year-old Princess Okiko (1623-96), the first female emperor in 800 years. As Emperor Meishō she reigned for 14 years before abdicating in favor of one of her younger half-brothers. There was no question of Meishō ever marrying, and she had no descendants.
Miyao's biography of Masako takes the form of an historical novel narrated by an aged lady-in-waiting. The narrative voice is convincingly sustained through more than 500 pages. Obviously unreliable as history, it nonetheless manages to conjure up an entire world; one closes the book convinced that the author has conveyed something of what it might have been like to live in it.
Other Miyao novels I can recommend are yet to be listed on Goodreads: Kai 櫂 ("Oar") (http://www.amazon.co.jp/櫂-新潮文庫-宮尾-登美子...), a novel recounting the life of the author's father, a reviled zegen or procurer; and Yōkirō 陽暉楼 ("The House of Yōkirō": the title of the novel is the name of a geisha house) (http://www.amazon.co.jp/陽暉楼-文春文庫-宮尾-登...), the tale of geisha Momowaka, set in the 1930s in the author's hometown of Kōchi on the island of Shikoku, and full of meticulously recorded period detail.
This novel, the title of which means literally "The Tears of Tōfukumon'in Masako," tells the story of Masako (1607-78), the youngest daughter of the second Tokugawa Shogun Hidetada (1579-1632; r. 1605-23). In 1620, she became the consort of Emperor GoMizuno'o (1596-1680; r. 1611-29). An imperial-Tokugawa child on the throne had been the ambition of her family for many years, and Masako did her best to fulfill their hopes: by 1629, she had given birth to five children and been promoted to empress, but both of the boys who might have become heir apparent had died. That meant that when Emperor GoMizuno'o suddenly abdicated on 1629.11.8, the longed-for imperial-Tokugawa emperor was a girl, six-year-old Princess Okiko (1623-96), the first female emperor in 800 years. As Emperor Meishō she reigned for 14 years before abdicating in favor of one of her younger half-brothers. There was no question of Meishō ever marrying, and she had no descendants.
Miyao's biography of Masako takes the form of an historical novel narrated by an aged lady-in-waiting. The narrative voice is convincingly sustained through more than 500 pages. Obviously unreliable as history, it nonetheless manages to conjure up an entire world; one closes the book convinced that the author has conveyed something of what it might have been like to live in it.
Other Miyao novels I can recommend are yet to be listed on Goodreads: Kai 櫂 ("Oar") (http://www.amazon.co.jp/櫂-新潮文庫-宮尾-登美子...), a novel recounting the life of the author's father, a reviled zegen or procurer; and Yōkirō 陽暉楼 ("The House of Yōkirō": the title of the novel is the name of a geisha house) (http://www.amazon.co.jp/陽暉楼-文春文庫-宮尾-登...), the tale of geisha Momowaka, set in the 1930s in the author's hometown of Kōchi on the island of Shikoku, and full of meticulously recorded period detail.
Displaying 1 of 1 review