Yedo

by Lynn Guest

Young Pev Fitzpaine arrived in Yedo, the former name for Tokyo, in 1860 totally unprepared by an Oxford education and genteel Devonshire upbringing for his new life at the first British legation in Japan in two hundred and fifty years.

He was quick to appreciate that remote country's poetic beauty and exotic customs, but found the unashamed sensuality of a relationship with the prostitute Umegawa deeply disturbing.

Surely women should not take pleasure in such acts, and yet Umegawa, who was only fifteen, actually seemed proud of her skills.....

Genres: Fiction, Japan

291 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Married to Harry Guest. They live in Exeter.

Reviews

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hard to find but fantastic book - a stupendous evocation of Japan in the 1850s. Both the Japanese and the western characters are brilliantly evoked and the detail is extremely accurate. Find it!

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old Japan at its most intriguing! Well researched & written! Excellent plot with good action!

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually, a book of this sort would thrill me and I would become immersed in the adventure of it but unfortunately, this particular book was rather disappointing. The characters and plot were all quite good however, the way in which it was written was unclear and poorly done. I should say, I am accustomed to the confusing and unclear when it comes to literature. I fell in love with Shakespeare (all of it, at a young age) Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji and absolutely loved Thomas Charlyle's French Revolution which has a complex prose format. So I am prepared to re-read things when necessary and comprehend them to the best of my meager ability. Yedo was not a complex book by any means but the author failed to deliver any kind of clarity that a book of this nature demands. I am well acquainted with the history she wrote of and some parts were extremely alluring but the lackluster way she wrote of the samurai and the irritating focus on sex lost me. Courtesans are fascinating and there is a great deal more to their world than what she managed to portray. She did however do an excellent job at demonstrating the racism and confusion of the two cultures clashing and the ensuing tensions. The white men she portrayed left me with a sense of disgust at their lack of respect and sheer ignorance. My favorite character was the determined Masayuki, brother to the main character. He created the perfect foil to his brother, and certainly made the novel more interesting but she even managed to ruin whatever potential he had. This book managed to get me through jury duty (it was only a brief four days) and for that I am grateful but I do remember wishing I had had something a bit more engaging. It ran the risk of putting me to sleep, honestly. I cannot recommend this book but if I had to, I would certainly recommend it to someone who struggles with insomnia.