Book description
Japan, 1857. For centuries Japan has been on its own; isolated by
choice from the rest of the world. But the Western powers are now at its
shores demanding to be let in, the government is crumbling and
revolution is building. The age of the samurai is ending and in its
place a new Japan will be born. A young woman is readying herself for
marriage in this, the most tumultuous period of her nations history. The
daughter of a doctor, Tsuru has been working alongside him and learning
the ways of medicine all her life. When her father allows her to marry
the man she loves a fellow doctor she believes her life will be all shes
dreamed it could be. Happily married, working amongst men as an equal.
But Japanese society does not work this way. The men of the times boys
shes known since childhood are determined to expel the foreigners, using
violence and whatever else they need to make their message heard. The
women are expected to be hidden at home, or behind the paper walls of
the tea houses. Tsuru is far too able to accept this and she is drawn
into a shadowy world of subversion, political intrigue and a dangerous
love. In time, she is working on the battlefields, alongside men, to
care for the wounded. BLOSSOMS AND SHADOWS is a compelling tale of love
and war, women and men, and the rise of modern Japan. It shines a
brilliant light on a time in history that few have known about until
now, though the change it brought continues to ripple around the world.
Japan, 1857. For centuries Japan has been on its own; isolated by choice
from the rest of the world. But the Western powers are now at its shores
demanding to be let in, the government is crumbling and revolution is
building. The age of the samurai is ending and in its place a new Japan
will be born. A young woman is readying herself for marriage in this,
the most tumultuous period of her nations history. The daughter of a
doctor, Tsuru has been working alongside him and learning the ways of
medicine all her life. When her father allows her to marry the man she
loves a fellow doctor she believes her life will be all shes dreamed it
could be. Happily married, working amongst men as an equal. But Japanese
society does not work this way. The men of the times boys shes known
since childhood are determined to expel the foreigners, using violence
and whatever else they need to make their message heard. The women are
expected to be hidden at home, or behind the paper walls of the tea
houses. Tsuru is far too able to accept this and she is drawn into a
shadowy world of subversion, political intrigue and a dangerous love. In
time, she is working on the battlefields, alongside men, to care for the
wounded. BLOSSOMS AND SHADOWS is a compelling tale of love and war,
women and men, and the rise of modern Japan. It shines a brilliant light
on a time in history that few have known about until now, though the
change it brought continues to ripple around the world.
