The Book of Loss

Set in the perfectly realized world of imperial tenth-century Japan, The Book of Loss is a gripping novel of sexual jealousy at court.A renowned storyteller and lady-in-waiting to the empress, the narrator is locked in a bitter rivalry with another woman for the love of a banished nobleman.  Forced to observe the complex rules and social hierarchies of court life, she finds herself caught in a trap of her own making.  Her machinations reach such a pitch that they threaten to undermine the rule of the emperor himself.  She records her plight and her acidulous observations of courtly life in her diary.  Her voice is unforgettable--both foreign and utterly modern.  Her sense of loss is unbearable, her love is all-consuming, and it will push her to the extremes of rivalry.Offering the intimate seductions and betrayals of Dangerous Liaisons and Memoirs of a Geisha, The Book of Loss takes the reader into the farthest reaches of desire, where passion rules and jealousy leads to unthinkable acts.