In the late nineteenth century, Tomo, the faithful wife of a government official, is sent to Tokyo, where a heartbreaking task is awaiting her. From among hundreds of geishas and daughters offered up for sale by their families she must select a respectable young girl to become her husband’s new lover. Externally calm, but torn apart inside, Tomo dutifully begins the search for an official mistress.

Fumiko Enchi took eight years to complete this novel and it won Japan’s top literary Noma prize. Rightly it has earned the reputation as one of the most penetrating studies of female psychology to appear in postwar Japan.

More classic Japanese novels
https://quizlit.org/10-best-classic-japanese-novels ( )

This is a quiet Japanese novel written in the 1950s, but set around the turn of the 20th century, I believe. Tomo, wife of a well-to-do government official, has reached the ripe old age of 30, and has been instructed by her husband to purchase a concubine for him. The novel is an interesting study of the family dynamics, as the concubine settles into the family, and then over the years, when Tomo must find another, younger concubine for her husband. It is written in a style, which I find present in many Japanese novels, but have difficulty in describing, that is formal and which seems to distance the reader from the emotions of the characters. Or perhaps it is that the characters themselves distance themselves from the emotions, and act strictly according to the rules of the society in which they find themselves. In any event, I enjoyed this novel, and would read other books by this author. ( )

a haunting story of the life of the wife of a Samurai in 18th century Japan. Tasked to find concubines for her husband, Tomo only scores retribution through her instructions for a non-traditional burial upon her death. clunky translation at some points, but riveting story telling. ( )

Quietly presented drama, marital tension, emotional cruelty, repressed emotions. In the beginning of the novel the wife reluctantly buys a concubine for her husband. There were a couple of chapters in the middle that I didn't find as effective as the surrounding ones, but the very last chapter is a little gem. This is a perceptive and subtle novel brimming with tears, which is why I have some issues with what seem to be less subtle choices in the translation.

The Kodansha paperbacks in this series are lovely, by the way. ( )