La Maison de l'arbre joueur

by Lian Hearn, Philippe Giraudon (Translator)

Japon, 1857.
Depuis des siècles, le Japon vit replié sur lui-même. Mais, bientôt, il sera contraint de s'ouvrir aux influences étrangères. Les Occidentaux forcent les portes de l'ancien monde. L'époque des samouraïs est désormais révolue.
La maison de l'Arbre joueur, dans le domaine du Chôshû, où habitent Tsuru et sa famille, n'est pas épargnée par le vent du changement. La jeune femme rêve de s'affranchir des traditions ancestrales et de suivre les traces de son père en devenant médecin. Elle se trouve alors entraînée dans un monde de subversions, d'intrigues politiques et d'amours interdites. Autour d'elle agissent des hommes puissants et violents. Leur slogan est Sonnôjôi : « Vénérez l'Empereur, expulsez les étrangers ».
À travers l'inoubliable destin de Tsuru, symbole de l'émancipation de son pays, l'auteur de la saga Le Clan des Otori nous offre une grande histoire d'amour et de guerre.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Japan, Fiction, Romance, Historical, Fantasy, Japanese Literature

608 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Lian Hearn's beloved Tales of the Otori series, set in an imagined feudal Japan, has sold more than four million copies worldwide and has been translated into nearly forty languages. It is comprised of five volumes: ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR, GRASS FOR HIS PILLOW, BRILLIANCE OF THE MOON, THE HARSH CRY OF THE HERON and HEAVEN'S NET IS WIDE. The series was followed by two standalone novels, BLOSSOMS AND SHADOWS and THE STORYTELLER AND HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, also set in Japan.

Hearn's forthcoming series: The Tale of Shikanoko will be published by FSG in 4 volumes in 2016. Book 1 will be EMPEROR OF EIGHT ISLANDS out in late-April 2016, followed by book 2: AUTUMN PRINCESS, DRAGON CHILD (June), book 3: LORD OF THE DARKWOOD (August), and the final book (#4) THE TENGU'S GAME OF GO (late-Sept. 2016).

Lian has made many trips to Japan and has studied Japanese. She read Modern Languages at Oxford and worked as an editor and film critic in England before immigrating to Australia.

Reviews

[Juliet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lian Hearn is the author of the well-received Tales of the Otori, a five book historical fantasy sequence set in a place closely resembling feudal Japan. With Blossoms and Shadows she branches out into straight historical fiction. Blossoms and Shadows is set in the mid-19th century, when the threat of Western colonisation mobilised an alliance of young samurai and court nobles to overthrow the semi-feudal government and restore power to the Emperor. Hearn's novel focuses on a particular group of young rebels in Choshu domain.

The narrative is largely told by Tsuru, a doctor's daughter whose ambitions go beyond what her time and culture allows for women. The novel has a very large cast of characters, both fictional and historical, and despite the list in the front, I found myself often confused about who was who, and whether they were important or not. Tsuru's first person, past tense sections are broken up by various third person, present tense chapters in which other characters have the point of view. This device in itself is fine, but only works if those other characters come alive for the reader.

I felt that the storytelling in Blossoms and Shadows was often swamped by the historical research. A lot of the book feels like telling rather than showing, with some sections crammed with facts and bristling with names. This slows down a story with great dramatic potential. It is obvious the author was fascinated by the history, but the novel failed to invoke the same fascination in this reader. It comes alive in the more personal sections - Tsuru's tragic love story, for instance.

Readers who love Japanese culture and history should enjoy this. Readers who want a fast-paced, absorbing historical novel may share my reaction.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm trying to work out why this book is boring me - I enjoyed greatly Lian Hearn's Otori quartet, but this novel is not managing to hold my interest. As usual, her characterisation is strong, but as with the previous series, the extensive Japanese names are a challenge, made even more difficult by their various shortenings. This makes it a bit difficult to follow the story at times, and I think the fact that the main character we are following is not directly involved in the battles being described makes it more difficult to engage with what is happening.
Not being intrinsically interested in Japanese history, and it being difficult to truly keep up with who is who in the battles against the foreigners makes it a challenge I might not be up to.
We're only following one character in detail, and even her romances so far are not long lasting, so we don't extend our umbrella of interest to a couple, so we are in the end following the adventures of a lot of people whose fate we are not very involved in. I can see now why it is rated by the Goodreads community so much more lowly than is the Otori series.

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. I don’t really know how to say this eloquently but here it is: this book sucked. Dreadfully. It had so much promise – Japan, historical fiction, a strong female character, a beautiful cover…and yet I had to force myself to read it. It was boring, I couldn’t keep track of the characters and it jumped around a lot. I think I know even less now of the samurai era than before I started.

Blossoms and Shadows is set in 1860s Japan, as Westerners began to enter the country and Japan itself was in a revolution. We follow Tsuru, a doctor’s daughter, as she grows up, gets married and works in war-ravaged Japan. She has an illicit relationship with a family member while pretending to be a man, suffers a breakdown, goes back to her husband and eventually adopts her sister’s child. Tsuru occasionally disappears during the book and we follow a Japanese historical figure for a chapter. I found this particularly difficult as I couldn’t keep track of their names (and I studied Japanese for six years!) nor did they have a lot of meaning or anything memorable to keep them in my head.

While beautifully presented, this novel has little to recommend it. Perhaps if you are already familiar with this period in Japanese history, you might enjoy it. Tsuru is an uncomfortable character, chopping and changing in sex, her ambition and loves. It’s hard to follow and frankly, quite boring.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the Otori stories so I bought this without any hesitation at all. The author must have done a lot of research into all of her historical Japan novels because they have a ring of truth in the fiction. I don't know how someone who is Japanese might respond to them but I am swept away in these books.

Now while this book is not part of the Otori series and clearly set a little closer to our own time, it still has the same magic. A story of a strong young woman in a man's world is touching, frustrating and inspirational. Tsuru, our heroine, feels at times overwhelmingly repressed as well as guilt and despair in being absolutely and completely free of herself. A book of extremes, war and peace, love and hate, life and death, men and women, right and wrong, new and old. Sounds a little cliché here but it's all in there.

[Thoraiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

History has a huge cast. If you can survive the barrage of unfamiliar names, this is a fascinating, compelling and, at times, subversive 5-star story.

[Knigoqdec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Въпреки че сигурно съм една от малкото, които имат интерес от Бакумацу в България (ако има и друг, обадете се да си коментираме), не мога да оценя тази книга на повече от две звезди. В това играе роля както малко лъжливото заглавие на български, така и цялостното дразнещо състояние на превода.
Иначе описаните от Хърн сцени са абсолютно феноменални - все едно си там. Е, може би ако като мен си "бил там" с помощта на купища японски информативни неща...

https://knigoqdec.blogspot.com/2019/0...

[Harvey James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally unengaging and a big disappointment compared to her previous books. Couldn't wait to get it finished so I could move on to something good.

[Tocotin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, okay, I liked it, but I'll be really mean and say that I'd never recommend it. I liked it because there was so much wrong with it that reading it felt really good. I know I'm not making any sense.

I despise the bakumatsu period because it's so popular that it has become a collection of cheap plot devices... and this book is a testament to this. Basically it consists of taking a handful of historical personalities (Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogorō, Yoshida Shōin, that sort) and sticking them into the monotonous dough of the story in hopes of giving it some weight, because the story in itself is just one of those paint-by-numbers compositions about a Strong Woman Who Is Ahead Of Her Miserable Yet Picturesque Times. The historical guys fail to help though, because they're completely lifeless. They are just hopping about, popping in different places from Nagasaki to Kyoto, and showing unmotivated interest in O Tsuru (the heroine) who wants to be a doctor. O Tsuru whines about being an ignored woman, but truth be told I couldn't see why, because all the guys constantly noticed her whether she was in disguise or not. Cry me a river miss. Of course it was written for a noble cause and all that but come on, this is not the way to go. Omg I sound like I'm drunk. I'm not.

Well, there was something about a forbidden love on the cover. I found one scene I liked, O Tsuru's meeting with the geisha O Ume, and thought whoa, cool, but no... the forbidden love was of a less forbidden sort. Pity. Oh well. I think that historical novelists in general lack the stones to write an entertaining slashy story. They always put slash somewhere in the background and hope to score some points. Lame. (That's why I like Laura Joh Rowling.) Wow that's a whole lot of digressing. Okay. But seriously, what was with those "geisha houses" where the men went? Judging from the description, the author meant just brothels. It was confusing for me, and probably misleading for other readers. Otherwise the research is pretty good as far as I can tell.

There was a lot of untranslated Japanese and buckets, buckets of proper names. And the characters talked like that: "As you know Bob, the shogunate is bad and needs overthrowing big time." I'm serious. That's why I read this book.

[Léa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etant une grande fan de la saga Le Clan des Otoris, je n'ai pas hésité une seule seconde à emprunter ce roman à la bibliothèque.

Lian Hearn retrace ici la révolte du domaine Chôshû contre le bakufu, un gouvernement militaire, entre 1857 et 1867. Nous suivons plus particulièrement Tsuru, une jeune japonaise qui rêve de devenir médecin comme son père.

L'histoire est prometteuse pour toute personne qui aime les romans historiques et qui s'intéresse à l'histoire du Japon (personnellement j'ai foncé, l'histoire du Japon me fascine). Mais (oui il y a un mais), le rythme du roman est très lent jusqu'aux dernières pages malgré les récits des différentes révoltes, assassinats ou complots (le début est même parfois ennuyeux). La multitude de personnages évoqués et côtoyant Tsuru ne fait qu'embrouiller le lecteur. Je devais souvent jeter un coup d'oeil à la liste présentée au début du roman afin de me rappeler qui était qui. Et forcément, quand on n'arrive pas à situer un personnage, l'intrigue nous laisse souvent de marbre pour ce qui le touche.

Un peu de positif maintenant, l'histoire d'amour tragique de Tsuru a réussi à m'emporter ainsi que ses aspirations pour devenir médecin. J'ai aimé suivre son destin aux côtés de tous les jeunes shishi qui allaient participer au renversement du bakufu. J'ai également apprécié le fait d'en apprendre énormément sur cette période du Japon. Certains chapitres relèvent plus du livre d'histoire que du roman historique mais on ne peut pas dire que Lian Hearn n'a pas bien bossé son sujet ! Il faut d'ailleurs avoir Wikipédia à porter de main afin de "traduire" les différents termes japonais utilisés dans le livre...

Pour conclure, La maison de l'Arbre joueur est pour tous les lecteurs qui veulent en apprendre plus sur l'histoire du Japon et qui n'ont pas peur de s'attaquer à une lecture parfois un peu complexe.

[Bron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful book. It's a twist on the story of the girl who cuts off her hair, puts on her brother's clothes and goes off to fight in the wars. But Tsuru isn't a stereoptypical female warrior, instead she disguises herself as a doctor and sees the fighting from the other side. The book is set in the years leading up to the Meiji Restoration when there was a lot of civil unrest in Japan and some fighting against Western powers but there's a mental struggle going on as well between the desire to preserve traditional culture and the need to embrace new knowledge. I really like the fact that Tsuru isn't the sort of heroine who has to flee a wicked step parent or a forced marriage. In fact she comes from a loving family and is married to an open-minded, forward looking doctor. This colours the lens through which we see her world. I got to feel quite fond of her 'mad' patient Eikaku whose crazy fits actually provide her with the means and impetus to change her life.

[Svenja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Lian Hearns 'The clan of the otori' when they were published because i just love everything set in Japan/Japanese Culture. I loved reading the books and felt like they were an 'easy' and enjoyable read. This book is not easy. And not always enjoyable. Even if you are interested in Japanese culture and history(i really do like reading about the Bakumatsu era so i thought this would be very interesting) , this book is REALLY hard to follow.
There are so many characters that i constantly had to switch to the character list and a lot of times, esp. the last chapters, it felt more like a history book than a novel. Three stars because of all the historical things and a female main character who was a bit different but i would not recommend this to you if you do not know anything about japanese history and even then it might be really hard to follow.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and give it a higher rating as it has great promise but it fell short in delivery. Tsuru, a doctor's daughter in feudal Japan wanted much more as a women than society then is prepared to accept and she went to achieve some of them. Now my knowledge of Japan is limited to its Asia dominance ambition during WW2, its food, and holidays to Osaka and Kyoto. I don't know much about its history and when Japanese terms like Bakufu, Tokugawa Shogun, daimyo, Edo, Choshu etc. were woven into the story without the benefit of a glossary to help me along, I had to pause often and google them. It slows me down and the reading experience was not as smooth as what I usually had. Also, there were so much facts that it felt they were thrown at me and I was drowning in all the facts.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dans "La Maison de l'arbre joueur", Lian Hearn parle d'une histoire assez peu connue : celle des samouraïs qui se sont rebellés contre le shogunat, pour laisser place à l'ère Meiji. Avoir choisi comme protagoniste une jeune femme qui aspire à être médecin ajoute une dimension supplémentaire au récit et rend l'Histoire est plus accessible, à échelle humaine. Malheureusement, j'ai trouvé certains passages encore trop factuels, avec des détails historiques qui viennent alourdir le récit.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

LIan Hearn has put down the tales of the Otori to give us an excellent novel of the Meiji restoration, as Tsuru’s life becomes intertwined with the revoltionaires from her domain of Choshu as they seek to restore power from the fading Shogunate to the Emperor. At the same time America has demanded Japan ends it’s isolation and the British, French and Dutch are all scheming to get a foot on the Japanese soil. As the domains take sides, strive for power while at the same time trying to prevent their rivals from gaining power, a driven few will see that enemies must unite, and that change must come, whatever the cost. There are plans and schemes, battles and pilgrmages as Japan is dragged into a new future. One of the domains older warriors accuses the younger ones of thinking too much about the future, rather than how to achieve it, but as Tsuru struggles to see chances for herself in the old world or the new, she wonders if they think about it enough.

These aren’t the only problems Tsuru faces, there is also a relentless number of names thrown at her throughout the book. I read on and eventually managed to remember about four characters, only for them to die or change their names completely. Naturally Tsuru had no such problems, and she didn’t even have the guide at the beginning of the book detailing all the characters, which I decided not to use as it would have taken me years to cross check every time I was confused, which was often. I’m currently listening to a Short History of Japan podcast (here if you’re interested) and they haven’t quite reached this period, so as usual, not only did I bring my own Japanese naming inadequacies to the book, I had no idea what was what and what happened at the end, still it’s always a lot more interesting if you don’t know the end no?

But names aside I loved this book, Lian Hearn has crafted a deep and rich painting of 19th Century Japan, and you can almost feel her passion for the country and this particular period in the narrative, which sees Tsuru have an incredible life that is buffeted by great sadness but which sees power restored to the Emperor and the birth of modern Japan.
(blog review here)

[Sergiojamon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probablemente no ha estado al nivel esperado, después de haber leído “la leyenda de los Otori”, creo que me he terminado llevando un “chasco”, aunque me llevo algunas cosas que ha tenido, por cortas que hayan sido.

La historia, aunque intenta ser otro punto de vista en la guerra samurái, tira más para lo aburrido de la lejanía, aunque en muchos momentos se acerca a la acción, va siempre por lo cotidiano y el hacer actos “impuros” de nuestra protagonista.

Se llega a notar el toque de la escritora a la hacerla más ligera y amigable para cualquier lector, pero en este caso no ha sido suficiente por una historia que tienes que esperar mucho para que pase algo verdaderamente emocionante.

Aunque ciertamente, cada personaje tiene su carácter que los hace únicos en la trama y según va avanzando vemos unas evoluciones en sus formas de ser o incluso de pensar.

El final tan esperado de esta larga historia, acaba cerrándolo de una forma que, aunque nos duela, sabíamos cómo iba a terminar. Siendo cruel al mismo tiempo correcto con nuestro personaje.

Ha terminado en decepción hacia la historia, pero entretenido por el toque de la autora.

[Salimbol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, a mixed bag here. It was elegantly written, though lacking some of the sheer loveliness of the author's Otori books, and it was interesting to get a female perspective on those shattering events of the Bakumatsu. However, it strained at times to insert Tsuru, the lead character, into those events, and it often felt far too much like a wooden history lesson - the best historical novels steer clear of so much exposition and absorb it into the flow of the narrative (though I now finally feel that I understand the role of Choshu and Satsuma in the scheme of things :-). On top of that, there was considerable woodenness in how her Japanese characters would explain things to each other that no Japanese person would need explained, and I'm really not certain about some of the structural tics of the novel (namely the three page vignettes with characters we never otherwise meet in the course of the story).

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many of the other reviewers, I very much wanted to like this book. I'd purchased it in Australia based on its beautiful cover, but more importantly, on the delightful fun I'd experienced while reading the author's Tales of the Otori. And, I'd set it aside to read when I'd finished a huge work project as a reward to myself.

Checking the reviews, I made sure I paid attention to all of the Japanese character and place names to avoid confusion, and did enjoy the first quarter of the book. My take on the rest...it disintegrated into factual descriptions of all kinds of events and a lot of passions that never seemed believable/sincere/three-dimensional. If I were the editor, I'd say that either Hearn chose the wrong main character to tell the tale of this rebellion. Or, she really had two stories here--a young Japanese woman who cannot in her day be a doctor as she desires AND the rebellion story. The book goes flat as she struggles to do both justice.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be really hard work, and kept trying to work out why. I think that the scope of the work coupled with the historical detail and the limited description or explanation of the physical and cultural world were at the root of my difficulty. The huge number of names of people and places were overwhelming, and given that so many people changed names it was hard to keep it all in my head. I was disappointed because I have a strong interest in Japan, have been there twice, and know lots of Japanese.

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a very slow read - while the book is very informative and is based on actual events, the story jumps around alot and is told from different charecters perspectives. There were far too many charecters to keep up with names - a glossary of charecter names would have been really helpful.

I was also disapointed that we didn't get to hear all of the main charecters story - I felt like there was big chunks of her storey that we didn't get to hear.

[Namma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it started well, interesting story but then it had so many characters and I was lost as to who was who. The blood and killing was just getting long in the tooth. Somehow I thought the main character wanted to be Yentl in a Japanese form. The novel just didn’t seem to be going anywhere, it felt like it was always on the surface and not depth. It was not a lip biting experience. Not the sort of story I would enjoy again.

[Pat K · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF, I tried to like this book because I'd loved The Nighingale Floor by the same author. This book, while beautifully written, has such dry content my concentration keeps drifting off, it's just not interesting.

[Alejandra RL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Admiro el gran trabajo de investigación realizado por Lian Hearn para esta novela, sin embargo admito que en varias ocasiones la cantidad de detalles era abrumadora.

Sinceramente, creo que si no se tienen nociones básicas de la historia de Japón, los lectores se pueden perder. OJO, que no digo que sean cortos de miras y no puedan comprender lo que pasa, pero es un riesgo. Lo anterior lo digo porque que se maneja muchísima terminología japonesa refetente a política o grupos paramilitares decimonónicos.

Aun así, considero que el valor de esta novela reside en que nos adentra en los antecedentes de la guerra Boshin y la restauración Meiji. También muestra la vida cotidiana y las estructuras mentales de los japoneses de mediados del siglo XIX.

Refiriendome específicamente a la protagonista, Itasaki/Makino Tsuru fue una mujer con mucho caracter, pero no la típica heroina patea traseros, que vence a los malos usando solamente una cuchara y su sentido del humor; me refiero que era una mujer que sentía una inmensas ganas de dedicarse a la médicina, pero se vió envuelta en las circunstancias de su tiempo. Prácticamente tenia que estar peleando contra lo que todos consideraban normal o correcto.

En cuanto a los protagonistas masculinos, confieso que me perdí entre el mar de nombres y solamente a algunos pude identificarlos con precisión.

Puede que este no sea un libro para todo el mundo, pero definitivamente es un libro para los más entusiastas sobre lo japonés.

[☽El☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly the cover is beautiful, the small illustrations throughout the changing chapters was lovely, but the writing was hard to grasp. I don't know much about Japanese history and i honestly purchased it based on the blurb and cover, but I should have known it might not stick well with me. I had to look at the character glossary often but I still got lost, the changing of perspectives were confusing and felt random, and I feel like we did not see enough of the main character with the time skips that were slightly unclear. However I did only get to page 140 and lost interest at that point even when I tried to continue in case it got better. I did skim a few pages and it certainly does get interesting but even then, it felt more like a history lesson being told with some fiction to make it seem more interesting. However if you lobe history, especially Japanese history I definitely would tell you to try the book out. I would have loved to love this book and finish it but I think I will find the spoilers and see what happens in the end through a small explanation instead. I will give it 4 stars though because even if it is not for me and I could not get interested in the writing style, it still is a good book writing wise and if I could get into it, I would.

[Meritxell Baz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro me produce sentimientos encontrados, pero lo recomiendo si quieres aprender más acerca de la guerra civil japonesa. Me explico: la historia de Tsuru, queriendo ser médica en un mundo dominado por hombres, junto con el amor prohibido y apasionado que vive, hará que no puedas dejar de leer. Sin embargo, la lectura se hace muy densa cuando habla sobre la historia, ya que la autora pone en primera persona toda la historia ficticia ( cuando habla de Tsuru) y en tercera cuando hablan los personajes históricos reales.Y claro, el problema es que hay muchos. Llega un punto que son demasiados y es muy difícil seguir el ritmo, cortándote la trama principal para hablar de lo que hicieron las personas reales y puedes perder el interés.
De todas formas, me ha resultado una lectura interesante, una pena que te lo vendan como una historia de amor cuando no es así, se trata de un libro histórico y hay que tomárselo como tal.
Si no te interesa la historia de la guerra civil en Japón sobre el derrocamiento del shogunato, no te molestes en leerlo, puesto que se te hará cuesta arriba.

[Coralia · Rating 4 out of 5]

La maison de l'arbre joueur conte l'histoire de Tsuru-san, fille de médecin, entourée d'idéalistes belliqueux (dont elle fait partie) rêvant d'un changement radical dans un Japon conservateur aux mains du shogunat des Tokugawa.
Sur fond historique et profondément politique, nous sommes plongés dans une lutte et une réflexion sur la libération des mœurs et des esprits, vis-à-vis des limitations données dès la naissance en fonction de son sexe et de sa classe sociale.
J'avoue avoir confondu quelques personnages, ce qui m'a forcé à relire certains passages et à faire quelques allers-retours durant la lecture. J'aurais également apprécié un petit mémo des mots japonais utilisés.
Mais l'un dans l'autre, c'est une lecture que j'ai vraiment appréciée et que je recommande à quiconque souhaite en savoir plus sur la naissance du Japon moderne, son ouverture à l'Occident et la transformation d'Edo en Tokyo.

[Jess Dunphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In parts the book was interesting and well written. In others, it droned on about the politics, mentioning characters that it was impossible to keep track of who was who, and who did what. It jumped around between the main character, and these random characters, where I was left wondering what on earth was going on.

***SPOILER***

The whole book, you were hoping that the main character would be reunited with her lover. Only for him to appear at the very end and die before her very eyes. What was the point? There was no satisfaction felt for the reader, having slogged through the rest of the book. I was left feeling disappointed and let down.

Occasionally there would be some of the magic in Lian's writing that I felt when reading the series "Across the Nightingale Floor" which I loved dearly. However it was sparing.

It was all a bit of a let down of a book.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I would rate the book cover I would give it a 10, But.
But.
The story is presented as a tale of a girl who ended up in the middle of the Japanese civil war in the 1860's when is, in fact, very much different.

I was kind of disappointed when she get married, for real. Because the synopsis in the book made me believe that that was something that was going to happen but it was canceled because of what was happening in the country.
Also, reading some synopsis online there was this focus on her relationship with her uncle. Yeah, I can agree it was scandalous but it seemed to me that it wasn't so important, not to her nor to the story.
Tsuru is a really strange main character, I didn't sympathize with her once.


More than a novel, it seemed kind of a summarized historical chronicle with some fiction here and there.

[Thu Nguyen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because every time when I gave a book 3 star, goodreads thought I like that book, so this time, to make it clear, I'm gonna give this 2 stars only.
I admit I totally bought this book because of its cover. And what a fool I was! Instead of a nice, romantic story, I've got a boring story about historical Japanese war. Back then I didn't know Lian Hearn and her cold, cold way of killing characters without the blink of an eye. Totally too dark compared to the cover art.
And the romance in this book makes me flinch every time I think about it. I just don't like this book at all. This was years before I read Across the nightingale floor, but I don't think I will change my mind.

[Robyn Weightman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75*
Emphasis on Historical Fiction.
At times this felt like a history book and a lesson on civil wars in Japan and the influx of Europeans in Asia.
But the story of our protagonist and her struggles in a man's world, and even the hint of them possibly being transgender were very interesting and heart wrenching to me.
I feel like I've learnt a lot about Japan's history. Though the book was sometimes a hard read and there were a lot of names and places to juggle.
It's one I would recommend as a HISTORICAL read, not as a good time. But it felt important.
It's not one I currently feel I would revisit, but it is currently stuck in my head. So who knows.

[Anne-maree Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed some of this fictional account of the background to the Meiji Restoration and the fall of the Shogunate, but I tended to get a bit lost in some of the detail Their were so many characters, it was difficult to keep a track on who was who and I think sometimes Lian Hearn didn't quite know what to do with the characters or where the plot was headed. At times it reads like a very dry textbook. Interesting though and her knowledge of Japanese history seems very thorough. I preferred he Tales of the Otori series, set in Feudal Japan, much more.