Author Description

From Booklist Choosing not to marry is still a suspect--if not radical--act in many segments of American society today, so just imagine what it would mean for a woman in 1920s Japan. In this autobiographical novel, one of Japan's most prominent female novelists tells of Kadzue, who has always known she does not want to marry. Although she drifts from man to man in the manner of a Jean Rhys heroine, Kadzue is willful and self-assured. She seems to shrug off convention as easily as her lovers and still, unlike Rhys' characters, keep her essence intact. This, more than her adventures, makes her story remarkable. Immensely popular in Japan, Chiyo is virtually unknown in the U.S. As a period piece giving insight into Japanese culture and mores, this one of her novels should interest Western readers; as a role model for Western women, however, its heroine, perhaps inevitably, falls short. Mary Ellen Sullivan Product Description Traces the lfe and adventures of Kazue, a willful and self-assured young Japanese woman, who, in the 1920s, decides she does not want to marry. From Library Journal The life of the pre-World War II Japanese woman was indeed a hard one by modern standards, as is so ably illustrated in this work by Uno. Not for the faint-hearted, this tale of self-discovery focuses on a young woman's relationship with various men, showing how the individual can be subsumed by society (i.e., male Japanese society). Copeland has given us a fluid translation that reads correctly and helps to evoke time and place. Uno's work is a boon to those who wish to study women's roles in other cultures and is a testament to her role in her world, which has been substantial. Raconteur, author, magazine publisher, and woman of the world, she has made an important contribution to Japanese literature, and one hopes for further translation of her works. Essential for women's studies collections and highly recommended as general adult fiction.- Mike Heines, Rome