Beyond the blossoming fields / Junþichi Watanabe

As a young girl, Ginko Ogino seems set for a conventional life, cushioned by the male-dominated society of nineteenth-century Japan. But when she contracts gonorrhoea from her husband - an illness then thought to be incurable - she is divorced and disowned by her own family. Unable to bear the humiliation of being treated by a male doctor, she resolves to become a doctor herself. As more and more obstacles are placed before her, will she give in to social pressure or continue to fight against her world and her times?A huge bestseller in Japan, where it sold over three million copies, "Beyond the Blossoming Fields" is the real-life story of Japan's first female physician and a timeless parable on the power of love and idealism.