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The Courtesan and the Samurai: Historical Romance
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- The Courtesan and the Samurai: Historical Romance
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Top positive review
6 of 6 people found this helpful
5.0 out of 5 starsDescriptive flair
ByKevinon 6 April 2010
With descriptive flair ("women in dresses shaped like temple bells", for example, and a villain whose head is "like a tangerine balanced on top of a pumpkin-sized rice cake") Lesley Downer mines a rich seam of historical romance in this tale of love lost and found amid the social and military upheaval of late nineteenth-century Japan. The period lends itself to all sort of quirky insights on what happens when ancient meets modern (a samurai sword, for example, splits a bullet in half) as the author explores a strange world that mixed chivalry with commerce and which, even more strangely, survived in Japan right into the twentieth century.
Top critical review
4 of 6 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsA very average novel- disappointing for Downer
ByMs. L. N. Craneon 7 April 2010
After reading Lesley Downer's other works, I found the Courtesan and the Samurai rather disappointing. The novel isn't bad- it's clearly been well researched and there are some exciting parts, but to me, the storyline seemed weak and the characters and certain plots weren't as well developed as they could have been. My main criticism is that the novel felt rather rushed or a bit too sparse- there was a lot of potential there and aspects I would have liked to hear more about. Leads and suggestions in the story were dropped with little or no resolution, and the relationship between Hana and Yozo began unconvincingly quickly, which lessened the emotional impact later in the book. Unfortunately, Downer's fiction does not match the standard of her factual works, but thankfully her knowledge of Japan saves what would otherwise be a rather dire read.
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ByKevinon 6 April 2010
With descriptive flair ("women in dresses shaped like temple bells", for example, and a villain whose head is "like a tangerine balanced on top of a pumpkin-sized rice cake") Lesley Downer mines a rich seam of historical romance in this tale of love lost and found amid the social and military upheaval of late nineteenth-century Japan. The period lends itself to all sort of quirky insights on what happens when ancient meets modern (a samurai sword, for example, splits a bullet in half) as the author explores a strange world that mixed chivalry with commerce and which, even more strangely, survived in Japan right into the twentieth century.
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BySFR Danielon 24 October 2012
This is in a way the "same world" as in The Last Concubine. But it's not, also. It's recognizably Japan of the late 1860s and the political realities are similar to the same period in the first novel. But this is a different part of that world, and the characters have intense, serious challenges and preoccupations that are all their own and miles and miles away from the other harsh realities faced by the characters in the other book. Lesley Downer's skill at presenting individual personalities and situations is immense. Deft brushstrokes create each moment of a vivid and fascinating existence, with its dangers, its sensations, its unknown possibilities. I love the way she drops me into situations; I never know what's coming next. I can feel the stinging winds, I feel the fear of impending battle, I am there with the warriors in the desperate situation. I am living with these people. It's an absorbing adventure thriller. It's a picture of a country in the turmoil of rapid upheaval, an ancient culture shaken beyond its roots. It is romantic, yes. (I was happy to see a character from the first book turn up in this one, and hope to meet that person again now that I've started the third novel. I won't say who it is, so you'll have the pleasure of experiencing it yourself.)
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This novel is set in 1868/69, during the period of civil war (known as the Meiji Restoration) between the shogunate forces (the northerners) and the imperial Japanese forces (the southerners).
The novel's protagonist, Hana, is seventeen when her husband, a commander in the Northern Alliance, leaves her to go to war. Hana is the daughter of a samurai, and her duty as a samurai wife is clear. The northerners are losing, and when the southerners attack her home and she is unable to defend it she flees for her life across the shattered city of Edo (later renamed Tokyo). Hana is first helped, and then sold, by a procuress to become a courtesan in the five streets of the Yoshiwara.
Yozo Tajima returns to Japan after four years in the West, just in time to find the world he left behind in the last throes of destruction. He is captured while travelling north to rejoin his comrades, but escapes and makes his way to the Yoshiwara. Here he meets Hana, and they fall in love. They are, it appears, fated to be together but there are certain obstacles to overcome first.
I enjoyed this novel, more for the rich historical detail than the actual love story between Yozo and Hana. I know little about this period of Japanese history and found this aspect of the novel quite absorbing. The details of the lives of courtesans in Yoshiwara were intriguing, as was Yozo's story as one of a number of Japanese who spent time in the west.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
The novel's protagonist, Hana, is seventeen when her husband, a commander in the Northern Alliance, leaves her to go to war. Hana is the daughter of a samurai, and her duty as a samurai wife is clear. The northerners are losing, and when the southerners attack her home and she is unable to defend it she flees for her life across the shattered city of Edo (later renamed Tokyo). Hana is first helped, and then sold, by a procuress to become a courtesan in the five streets of the Yoshiwara.
Yozo Tajima returns to Japan after four years in the West, just in time to find the world he left behind in the last throes of destruction. He is captured while travelling north to rejoin his comrades, but escapes and makes his way to the Yoshiwara. Here he meets Hana, and they fall in love. They are, it appears, fated to be together but there are certain obstacles to overcome first.
I enjoyed this novel, more for the rich historical detail than the actual love story between Yozo and Hana. I know little about this period of Japanese history and found this aspect of the novel quite absorbing. The details of the lives of courtesans in Yoshiwara were intriguing, as was Yozo's story as one of a number of Japanese who spent time in the west.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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ByHosterioon 22 October 2011
I would highly recommend this title as well as Lesley Downer's other fictional story 'The Last Concubine'
What I love about Downer's novels is the basis they have in History. Well research and beautifully presented in spell binding text that literally transports you to an era that time forgot. This particular story begins in two strands that Downer expertly intertwines. It has violence, friendship, loss, betrayal, romance and enough twists to keep you hooked.
What I love about Downer's novels is the basis they have in History. Well research and beautifully presented in spell binding text that literally transports you to an era that time forgot. This particular story begins in two strands that Downer expertly intertwines. It has violence, friendship, loss, betrayal, romance and enough twists to keep you hooked.
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Lesley Downer's second novel is set, like her first, at the time of the fall of the Shogunate of Northern Japan, in 1868. Hana, a young wife from a Samurai family, is on the losing side in the war between North and South. Her much older husband is away fighting, and when rebel soldiers arrive in her town, she flees to Edo (modern Tokyo) where a woman tricks her into being sold to a house of pleasure in the Yoshiwara (a classy version of a Red Light District). Hana is forced to become a geisha, but finds unexpected pleasure and liberty in her work - until her Madame decides that it might be a good idea to sell her to one, exclusive, very rich client. Meanwhile, Yozo Tajima, a traveller and star Samurai swordsman, is valiantly fighting for the Shogun, using tricks he learnt during his time in Europe to help him, and consoled by the friendship of Jean Marlin, a Frenchman fighting alongside the Northern warriors. But when defeat seems close, Yozo and Marlin are forced to flee for their lives, ending up in the Yoshiwara, where Marlin has a lover, and where Yozo will soon meet Hana...
Downer's novel follows some of the traditional elements of romantic fiction - the exotic setting, the beautiful young heroine and the noble, brave and strong hero. Where it's much, much superior to the average romance, however, is both in its elegant style (Downer's also a superb writer of non-fiction about the East) and in the historical details, which fill the text without it ever feeling swamped in excessive detail, and without ever making the reader feel lectured to. I loved learning about the traditions of the geisha profession, and about Samurai warriors, about the increasing bonds between Japan and the West as the more enlightened Japanese politicians and army generals realized that they had to learn some Western ways, at least in warfare, about Yozo's travels and about the split between the North and South in 1860s Japan, something I was unaware of before. Downer also has a knack of making her characters lovable - Hana impressed me with her independent mind and her courage, Yozo managed to transcend any stereotype of the heroic young warrior through his thoughtfulness and culture, Jean Marlin was very endearing (as was his romance with the Japanese coiffeuse) and Yozo's affection for some of his senior officers - some of whom really existed - was moving. And of course, Hanna's need to escape the Yoshiwara or be sold to the coarse businessman after her, and the mystery of what happened to her husband, added a pageturning element to the book! Although at 400 pages it's a substantial length, I found it quick and engrossing reading. And if there were a few elements that veered towards the cinematic or swashbuckling (the businessman eating himself silly at the feast, the three-part sword fight in the final scene) - well, they were pretty gripping, and in a way only added to the pleasure of reading the book.
An intelligent and informative romance, and a very good story. Recommended for anyone interested in things Far Eastern.
Downer's novel follows some of the traditional elements of romantic fiction - the exotic setting, the beautiful young heroine and the noble, brave and strong hero. Where it's much, much superior to the average romance, however, is both in its elegant style (Downer's also a superb writer of non-fiction about the East) and in the historical details, which fill the text without it ever feeling swamped in excessive detail, and without ever making the reader feel lectured to. I loved learning about the traditions of the geisha profession, and about Samurai warriors, about the increasing bonds between Japan and the West as the more enlightened Japanese politicians and army generals realized that they had to learn some Western ways, at least in warfare, about Yozo's travels and about the split between the North and South in 1860s Japan, something I was unaware of before. Downer also has a knack of making her characters lovable - Hana impressed me with her independent mind and her courage, Yozo managed to transcend any stereotype of the heroic young warrior through his thoughtfulness and culture, Jean Marlin was very endearing (as was his romance with the Japanese coiffeuse) and Yozo's affection for some of his senior officers - some of whom really existed - was moving. And of course, Hanna's need to escape the Yoshiwara or be sold to the coarse businessman after her, and the mystery of what happened to her husband, added a pageturning element to the book! Although at 400 pages it's a substantial length, I found it quick and engrossing reading. And if there were a few elements that veered towards the cinematic or swashbuckling (the businessman eating himself silly at the feast, the three-part sword fight in the final scene) - well, they were pretty gripping, and in a way only added to the pleasure of reading the book.
An intelligent and informative romance, and a very good story. Recommended for anyone interested in things Far Eastern.
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ByMilliemollieon 2 June 2012
After reading and enjoying The Last Concubine I was hoping that this book would be as good and I wasn't disappointed. Brilliant descriptions, I felt great empathy with the characters. Difficult to put down.
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ByGabrielleon 18 October 2012
This a hugely entertaining book that has been thoroughly researched and gives a deeper insight into the truth of the civil war that divided Japan during the Meiji Restoration. It is a real page turner
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Bya languages aficionadoon 1 June 2011
If you like samurai books, then this is the book for you. Good, gripping action, fascinating piece of history.
Delivery was quick and I was very pleased with Amazon.
Delivery was quick and I was very pleased with Amazon.
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ByBRENDA ADAMSon 25 March 2015
loved it loved it loved it Hana was such a naïve person until she had to fight for her future, then she became strong, resilient and in control
Yuzo [not sure how to pronounce this name] was everything a friend, lover and warrior should be
Yuzo [not sure how to pronounce this name] was everything a friend, lover and warrior should be
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ByS. Pellon 4 May 2010
Not a complete WOW but a very good read that transports you off to a different world very easily. So well researched which shines through in this novel. Very enjoyable and I would recommend (although the ending is predictable).
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