Okei, A girl from the provinces / Mitsugu Saotome

Set in the midst of samurai warfare in the mountainous region of Aizu in the late nineteenth century, Okei recounts the coming of age of a young peasant girl Okei, who falls desperately in love with the fierce warrior Sanasuma Kingo, only to learn that the world she inhabits has no place for love. The two inhabit entirely different worlds, and Okei must learn to understand both the nature of her hidden feelings rising within her and the arcane codes and honour system of the samurai. As the forces of the old Tugokawa order struggle to contain the imperialist army, Okei and the rural community she inhabits find that exile to the New World may be their only remaining chance of survival. Epically capturing the character of a country in the midst of revolution and faced with the onset of modernity, Mitsugu Saotome's masterful novel manages to blend vivid historical detail with a timeless tale of romance, self-discovery and growing up.