Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Autumn Bridge Author: Takashi Matsuoka ISBN: 0-385-33641-1 Publisher: Delacorte Book Part of a Series: Samurai Duology; Cloud of Sparrows prequel Type of book: Japan, America, present, past, future, prophecy, 1281-1311, 1796-1867, 1882, 1953, 1895, interracial relationship, Asian male/white female, ancestors Year it was published: 2004 Summary: In the year 1311, in the highest tower of Cloud of Sparrows Castle, a beautiful woman sits by the window, watching as enemies gather below and fires spread through the night. As she calmly awaits her fate, she begins to write, carefully setting down on a scroll the secret history of the Okumichi clan…of the gift of prophecy they share and the extraordinary destiny that awaits them. For six centuries, these remarkable writings lay hidden—until they are uncovered by an American woman, a missionary named Emily Gibson, who arrived in Edo harbor in 1861, in flight from a tragic past. Soon an extraordinary man wo...

A different Japan Name of book:  Cloud of Sparrows Author name:  Takashi Matsuoka ISBN: 0-440-24085-9 Publisher:  Bantam Dell Type of book:  Adult, Japan, 19th century, beginnings of white female/asian male relationship? Year it was published in: 2002   Summary: Debut novelist Takashi Matsuoka burst onto the secen with CLOUD OF SPARROWS, a magnificent historical novel that takes us beyond the epic tradition of James Clavell’s Shogun. Set in 1861 Japan, CLOUD OF SPARROWS weaves a tale of passion and adventure, as a small group of American missionaries arrives on the shores of Edo Bay-and enters the strange, exotic world of Genji, Lord of Akaoka. What happens next, between the handsome young nobleman and the two Americans, sets the stage for a remarkable adventure. For as this unlikely band embarks on a journey through a landscape bristling with danger, East and West, flesh and spirit, past and future, collide in an ovel of astoun...