THE TOKAIDO ROAD

by Lucia St. Clair Robson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1991

Robson turns from westerns (Light a Distant Fire, 1988, etc.) to feudal Japan in her first hard-cover--a richly detailed saga of one woman's quest to avenge her father's death. Nineteen-year-old Lady Asano, illegitimate daughter of a Japanese nobleman, has been gently raised, but she is not unprepared for the rough turn her life takes when--thanks to an altercation with the powerful Lord Kira--her father is forced to commit suicide. Thrown out of her comfortable home, the beautiful teen-ager becomes a courtesan in the pleasure houses of Edo to support her mother, adopts the nickname ""Cat,"" and bides her time--until the night she cuts her hair short, disguises herself as a priest, and starts off on the Tokaido Road to Kyoto, where she hopes to join with her father's former supporters in an uprising against Kira. The Tokaido Road, which is littered with pilgrims, peasants, samurai, spies, and a vast assortment of rogues, acts as the perfect training ground for the haughty but inexperienced girl. Cat soon engages in battle, managing to defeat her attackers but significantly raising the price on her head. Nevertheless, Cat grows increasingly fearless as she travels, taking pleasure in exchanging haiku with a famous poet who takes her on as an apprentice, befriending a loyal peasant girl who vows to defend her until death, and engaging in a fierce romance with the samurai sent to capture her. For the reader as well as for Cat, the experience of the road, with its quixotic encounters, exquisite verbal images and vibrant sights, and sounds and smells, grows almost as significant as the journey's goal--making this a charming, unusually memorable adventure. Earthy, humorous, lively--and a veritable encyclopedia of the ways of old Japan.

Pub Date: March 1, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1991

Categories: FICTION