Average user rating:
4.15

The Book of Loss

By (author): Julith Jedamus
Published by: Orion Publishing Co
Publication date: 02/Mar/2006
Format: Paperback - 240 pages
Product dimensions (mm): 197 x 128 x 20
ISBN-10: 075382048X
ISBN-13: 9780753820483
Categories:
> Historical & Mythological Fiction

Report this book

Community recommends:

Based on most highly rated books on members' bookshelves.

Lords of the White Castle: Elizabeth Chadwick; Paperback
688 pages

Mrs Lincoln: Janis Cooke Newman; Paperback

Cassandra, Princess of Troy: Hilary Bailey; Paperback
496 pages

Sharpe's Enemy: Bernard Cornwell; Paperback
352 pages

Murder Most Royal: Jean Plaidy; Paperback
656 pages

Credo: Melvyn Bragg; Paperback

The Town House: Norah Lofts; Paperback
352 pages

The Wives of Henry Oades: Johanna Moran; Ebook
320 pages

Description - BookRabbit

THE BOOK OF LOSS takes the reader deep into the heart of 10th century Japan and into a female world of intense emotion. The mysterious narrator, and her rival Izumi, are both ladies-in-waiting at the Imperial court, where all aspects of life are governed by elaborate social rules. It is a society steeped in hypocrisy, for although women are shut off from men behind shutters and silk screens, extramarital affairs are commonplace. Yet despite the apparent sexual liberalism, to be a woman shamed is to be worthless, nameless and to risk exile. At the start of the novel the greatest scandal imaginable has taken place. Kanesuke, the narrator's beloved (and also the lover of Izumi) has seduced the Virgin of Ise - one of the Emperor's daughters. He is banished from court, but his influence grows yet more powerful in the minds of the women left behind. The narrator's sense of loss is unbearable, her passion is all consuming, and now it will push her to extremes of rivalry.

View all