The Shogun's Queen

It is completely absorbing, showing Lesley Downer’s deep knowledge of Japan and her mastery of its complex history during the nineteenth century. * LIAN HEARN, author of Across the Nightingale Floor *
A persuasive storyteller and the setting is mesmerising. – Antonia Senior * THE TIMES *
Superb. A wonderful evocation of an alien world, with entrancing characters and a riveting narrative that fits perfectly with the historical facts. – JOHN MAN, author of Genghis Khan
Lesley Downer has pulled off a remarkable achievement in making the beautiful, strange and dangerous world of one woman in a 19th-century Japan facing Western invasion utterly believable, and utterly gripping. * VANORA BENNETT, author of Portrait of an Unknown Woman *
Atsu is what we all want to be: a courageous woman of heartbreaking intelligence… set against our own darkest selves. This tale of western imperialism has so many resonances in the modern world, written with passion, depth and brilliance, and a sense of time and place that is earning Lesley Downer a reputation as the Shogun’s Writer for the twenty first century. * MANDA SCOTT, bestselling author of the Boudica novels *
What a wonderful storyteller Lesley Downer is, and what an amazing story she tells in The Shogun’s Queen. Set at a pivotal moment in Japan’s history, her novel effortlessly transported me to nineteenth century Japan. At its heart is Okatsu, Downer’s heroine for all seasons, plus a vivid cast of characters – some loyal, some treacherous – all caught up in the turbulent politics of the time. I was only sorry to reach the end of this gripping and deeply suspenseful novel. * MARGOT LIVESEY, author of The House on Fortune Street *
Impeccably researched, packed with intrigue, adventure and romance, this is a wonderful evocation of a bygone time. * WOMAN & HOME *
An epic and intricate, beautifully described story of love, bravery and sacrifice … a must read for fans of Japan, historical fiction and great storytelling * ONE MORE PAGE *
What Hilary Mantel is to the Tudors or Mary Beard to the Romans, Lesley Downer is to ancient Japan. * 101 GREAT READS *

Lesley Downer’s mother was Chinese and her father a professor of Chinese, so she grew up in a house full of books on Asia. But it was Japan, not China, that proved the more alluring, and she lived there for some fifteen years. She has written many books about the country and its culture, including Geisha- The Secret History of a Vanishing World, and Madame Sadayakko- The Geisha who Seduced the West, and has presented television programmes on Japan for Channel 4, the BBC and NHK. She lives in London with her husband, the author Arthur I. Miller, and still makes sure she goes to Japan every year.

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