...An enjoyable book
John Butler Asian Review of Books ...A fresh, detailed engagement
simultaneously biographical, historical, and literary
with the lives of a court family that survived a tumultous age of war and exile.
Satoko Shimazaki Japanese Language and Literature Sophisticated yet accessible, the book would be an ideal reading for an undergraduate class.
Laura Nenzi Sixteenth Century Journal ... Read moreAmbitious... As an accessible and pleasurable read, this book is recommended to scholars, across disciplines and periods, grappling with the problem of constructing a narrative out of limited historical sources.
Christina Laffin Journal of Japanese Studies Impressive and highly readable... Rowley's achievement is to produce a brilliantly realized depiction of the world around Nakako and as such the book should be of interest to anyone interested in the early Tokugawa period, the nature of court culture in Japan or Japanese literary culture.
Adam Clulow Japanese Studies Even without the advantage of a single word written by the subject herself, Rowley has depicted about as full a portrait as anyone could of this remarkable life. The result is a valuable contribution to the history of women at the turn of the seventeenth century in Japan.
C. Miki Wheeler Monumenta Nipponica An Imperial Concubine's Tale is a most welcome contribution to our understanding of the lives of women in early modern Japan.
William Fleming Japan Forum An exciting account... does not disappoint... The rich content of this book will appeal to a wide range of readers. This is simply history at its best, rigorously researched and engagingly told.
Sonja Arntzen Early Modern Women A lyrical portrayal of a concubine whose life resonates with Japan's cultural heritage as well as its historical background.
Yasuko Sato Journal of Women's History Show Less