Description
Book Synopsis*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography* *Winner of the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award* *Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography* A ';captivating' (The Washington Post) work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman during the first half of the 19th century in Edothe city that would become Tokyoand a portrait of a city on the brink of a momentous encounter with the West.The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother's. But after three divorcesand a temperament much too strong-willed for her family's approvalshe ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak.
With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry's fleet, which t
