Daughter of the Samurai, A

"After her husband's death, she raised two daughters alone and in two worlds at once, and became one of the earliest voices in Asian-American literature," - Janice P. Nimura writes in the foreword. "Her life was a bridge from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, from the time-hallowed beauty and rigidity of a samurai household to the disorienting, forward-looking freedoms of the West." "It is never wise for a Japanese woman, if she wishes to retain a position of influence and dignity, to say much on any subject. Actions, not words, are her most successful means of expression; but the time came when I saw that I must speak." This is the story of one woman's remarkable life successfully navigating two very different cultures. Beautifully told, this immigrant's account of an unforgettable journey is the story of a headstrong and empowered woman--an loyal wife, a widowed mother and a bilingual breadwinner--finding her way and finding her voice in a strange new world. Follow in her footsteps and trace the remarkable trajectory of her life as she: Witnesses her father prepare for ritual seppuku and her mother burn down the ancestral home. Bids an emotional farewell and sails across the ocean to marry a wealthy merchant in a new land. Grieves at his loss and returns to Tokyo with her two daughters and mother-in-law, only to find her homeland just as alien as America, forcing her to reinvent herself again as the family breadwinner. Returns to America with her children following the death of her mother-in-law. An international bestseller when it was first published a century ago, A Daughter of the Samurai emerges as a rare testament to a singular woman's resolve, strength and endurance.