"The heir to the magnificent English trading company, the Noble House--the direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shogun battling to usher his country into the modern age--a beautiful young French woman forever torn between ambition and desire--Their lives intertwine in an exotic land newly open to foreigners, gai-jin, torn apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism. Their passions mingle with monarchs and diplomats, assassins, courtesans and spies"--Amazon.com.
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"The heir to the magnificent English trading company, the Noble House--the direct descendant of the first Toranaga Shogun battling to usher his country into the modern age--a beautiful young French woman forever torn between ambition and desire--Their lives intertwine in an exotic land newly open to foreigners, gai-jin, torn apart by greed, idealism, and terrorism. Their passions mingle with monarchs and diplomats, assassins, courtesans and spies"--Amazon.com.
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This is not a book for someone who wants instant action and results. It is long and drawn out with many diversions. There are so many characters that it is hard to remember who is who as the scenes change, which they constantly do. But I found myself getting so involved with many of the characters that I was versing, out loud, my own criticisms toward some and only praising a couple of them. The love affair between both under aged Malcom and Angelique is the basic story and holds the book together. It is somewhat hard to conceive "children" being on their own that far from home without major adult supervision, however it creates interesting situations of naivete' and decietfullness. Angelique's transformation from a child brides grief to a cold and calculating adult is almost too quick but somewhat fits in with her upbringing and deceptive instructions. Be prepared to spend a lot of time studying characters, who they are and what their allegiences are. The feud between the Struans and Brocks is still ongoing but the other theme of this book really centers around Japanese politics of "old" verses "new" with both sides wanting the "gai-gin" out of their country.