In the days of the Samurai in ancient Japan, Bunshiro and his friends, Ippei and Yonosuke have a carefree childhood, but when Bunshiro’s father is accused of treason and forced to commit suicide, Bunshiro becomes head of the family and forced to take responsibility. While his two friends remain faithful, others shun him. Now in reduced circumstances, he puts all his effort into practising his fighting skill with bamboo swords.
While this story is about Bunshiro, it is an interesting look into past Japan, how government practices were carried out and at the same time, intrigue as those hungry for power, plot.
In 1800s China Little Flower’s father dies and her destitute mother takes to Canton and sells her into slavery to the Fong family while keeping her son. She is to be the maidservant to the spoilt Linjing. Despite the practice of foot binding, Linjing has been spared because she is destined to marry a man who does not want his wife to have bound feet. Still, she is jealous of Little Flower whose mother bound her feet at four. Little Flower is an accomplished embroider and Linjing is jealous of the attention her mother pays to the muizai’s skills. At each turn, Linjing destroys Little Flower’s hope of ever being free. Can she ever break free from the confinement and humiliation of being a slave with Linjing quelling goals?
This is an engrossing story encompassing the hardships and narrow lives of all women in a China dominated by privileged men, but a deeper concern, is other woman.
During the WW11 a teacher takes a group of children on an excursion into the forest to pick mushrooms. When the children collapse in a comatose state with eyes open, she races back to the school for help. The children eventually recover, all except one boy who is taken to hospital. Decades later, Mr Nakata is that boy who eventually wakes up from the coma, but he’s forgotten everything, including how to read. The only thing he’s capable of is speaking to cats.
When Kurihara introduces Sakaki to a puzzling blog, so begins what appears to be a series of unconnected murders. Sakaki struggles to decipher the series of mystery drawings left by Yuki who dies during childbirth and finds the husband’s blog does not give any clear answers. The reader is left hanging as the next chapter deals with a drawing done by a kindergarten student, but as each new murder unfolds, the pieces gradually fit together with help from mysterious drawings done by the victims.
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