Book description
The year is 1311, in the highest tower of Cloud of Sparrows Castle, a
beautiful woman watches from the window as the city is set alight and
a mob runs riot destroying everything they can lay their hands on. She
begins to write down the events unfolding around her and the secret
history of the Okumichi Clan.
Six centuries later the lost scrolls fall into the hands of American
missionary Emily Gibson, a new arrival at Edo Harbour and racing from
her tragic past. Emily quickly finds herself translating the text,
caught up in the gripping tale of ancestry, heroism and forbidden
love. At the same time Emily is desperately trying to unravel the
complexities in her own life as two men fight for her love.
As Emily sifts through the fragile scrolls, she begins to see
threads of her own life woven into the ancient writings. As past and
present collide, a hidden history comes to life, and with it a secret
prophecy that has been shrouded for centuries and may now finally be revealed.
Takashi Matsuoka grew up in Hawaii. He lives in Honolulu, where he
was employed at a Zen Buddist temple before becoming a full-time writer.
He is the author of the acclaimed novel,
Cloud of Sparrows
.
