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The Courtesan and the Samurai book cover
The Courtesan and the Samurai
2010
First Published
3.51
Average Rating
367
Number of Pages

Part of Series

Japan, 1868: the last shogun has been defeated, the age of the emperors is about to begin - and in Japan's frozen north a diehard band of loyalists plans a desperate last stand. Hana is just seventeen when her husband goes to war, leaving her alone and very vulnerable.
Avg Rating
3.51
Number of Ratings
1,008
5 STARS
18%
4 STARS
33%
3 STARS
32%
2 STARS
14%
1 STARS
3%
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Author

Lesley Downer
Lesley Downer
Author · 11 books

I write historical fiction set in Japan - women’s untold stories, largely true and based on meticulous and detailed research, though primarily, of course, good yarns. I’ve just finished The Shogun’s Queen, the fourth of The Shogun Quartet, four novels set in the nineteenth century during the tumultuous fifteen years when Japan was convulsed by civil war and transformed from rule by the shoguns into a society that looked to the west. Preorder: http://bit.ly/TheShogunsQueen The second, The Last Concubine, was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year 2009 and translated into 30 languages. The other two novels are The Courtesan and the Samurai and The Samurai’s Daughter. My non-fiction on Japan includes Geisha: The Remarkable Truth Behind the Fiction and Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha who Seduced the West. I’m also a journalist and travel writer, give lectures and teach Creative Writing at City University in London.

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The Courtesan and the Samurai