The Commoner
Subtitle: A Novel
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Published: January 22, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9780385515719
Subjects: American Historical Fiction; Fiction; Fiction - General; Literary; Fiction / Literary; 1952-; History; Japan; Nobility; Women
Description: "It is 1959 when Haruko, a young woman of good family, marries the Crown Prince of Japan, the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. She is the first nonaristocratic woman to enter the mysterious, almost hermetically sealed, and longest-running monarchy in the world. Met with cruelty and suspicion by the Empress and her minions, Haruko is controlled at every turn. ... Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman - a rising star in the foreign ministry - to accept the marriage proposal of her son, the Crown Prince. The consequences are tragic and dramatic." From the bookjacket.