description: The sensitive and modest daughter of a mid-ranking court poet, Murasaki Shikibu staves off loneliness with her active imagination, telling stories about the dashing Prince Genji to her close friends. At first, they are their private entertainment, but soon Genji's amorous adventures are leaked to the public and Murasaki is thrust into the life of a kind of eleventh-century Japanese celebrity. She is compelled by a charismatic regent to accept a position at court regaling the empress with her stories. At court, Lady Murasaki becomes caught in a vortex of high politics and sexual intrigue, which begins to reflect itself in her stories.
language: English
title: The Tale of Murasaki Reading Group Guide
titlecomplete: The Tale of Murasaki Reading Group Guide
characters: Shikibu Murasaki
genres: Historical, Asian Literature, Literature, Japan, Womens, Asia, Japanese Literature, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Poetry
ratings_count: 4364
publisher: Anchor Books