Description

Tokyo, 1912. The closed world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders – rich provincial families, a new and powerful elite.

Kiyoaki has been raised among the elegant Ayakura family – members of the waning aristocracy – but he is not one of them. Coming of age, he is caught up in the tensions between old and new, and his feelings for the exquisite, spirited Satoko. His devoted friend Honda watches from the sidelines. It is only when Satoko is engaged to a royal prince that Kiyoaki realises the magnitude of his passion.

‘An austere love story, probably my favourite of his novels’ David Mitchell, Independent on Sunday

‘[Mishima’s] best work, unnerving as it may be, still casts a spell; and I suspect it will retain its dark radiance’ Guardian

Publisher Review

This tetralogy is considered one of Yukio Mishima's greatest works. It could also be considered a catalogue of Mishima's obsessions with death, sexuality and the samurai ethic. Spanning much of the 20th century, the tetralogy begins in 1912 when Shigekuni Honda is a young man and ends in the 1960s with Honda old and unable to distinguish reality from illusion. En route, the books chronicle the changes in Japan that meant the devaluation of the samurai tradition and the waning of the aristocracy. * Washington Post * Mishima is the Japanese Hemingway * Life magazine * An austere love story, probably my favourite of his novels -- David Mitchell * Independent on Sunday * Romantic obsession and sexual intrigue meet in the sumptuous historical melodrama * Variety * [a] beautiful and austere tale... written in lush, languid prose, filled with beautiful sentences and turns of phrase, this is one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year * Reading Matters *