The autobiographical first novel by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, ‘A Daughter of the Samurai’ tells the incredible true story of a young girl born into a high-status family in Nagaoka, Japan whose father, a samurai, is stripped of his power when the feudal system in Japan collapses and his family is thrown into turmoil and uncertainty.
Originally destined to become a priestess, young Etsu is instead betrothed to a wealthy Japanese merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio and makes the unlikely and culturally jarring journey from the Japanese countryside to the American Midwest during the 1880’s.
Hailed by critics upon its original release, ‘A Daughter of the Samurai’ is a fascinating, one-of-a-kind glimpse into a forgotten age. Etsu’s insights, observations and descriptions of her life in Japan at this pivotal time in history – as well as her journey to America and back – is at once heartwarming, haunting and thrilling.
Over de auteur
Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto (1874-1950) was a Japanese-American autobiographer and novelist. As chronicled in this book, Etsu was born in Nagaoka in Echigo Province in Japan (which is now part of Niigata Prefecture). Her family had enjoyed premiere social status prior to Etsu’s birth as her father was a high-ranking samurai official in Nagaoka. But when the Japanese feudal system broke down shortly before Etsu was born, her family’s financial situation became dire. Originally destined to be a priestess, Etsu entered into an arranged marriage with a Japanese merchant living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She went so far as to attend a Methodist school in Tokyo to prepare for her life in the US and joined the Christian faith as well. In 1898, as planned, she journeyed to the US, where she married her fiancé and became mother of two daughters. After her husband’s death she returned to Japan, but wanted her daughters to be educated in the United States and so once again traveled to America. Later in her life, Etsu lived in New York City, where she wrote books and articles for newspapers and magazines, all the while serving as a professor of Japanese culture and history – as well as the Japanese language – at Columbia University. Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto died in 1950.
Meer e-boeken van dezelfde auteur (s) / Editor
48.668 E-boeken in deze categorie
