In the brave new Japan of the 1870s, Taka and Nobu meet as children and fall in love; but their relationship will test the limits of society. 1873. Taka, the daughter of a famous general and his geisha mistress, is just thirteen when Nobu, an impoverished lad from a defeated enemy clan, comes to work as a servant in her house. Sensing he is more than he seems, she is drawn towards him. But Japan is heading for a bitter civil war, driving them apart and threatening to turn all their lives upside down. She realises that she will have to make a dreadful choice – between her family and the man she loves …
Across a Bridge of Dreams, in paperback and with a new title!
The Samurai’s Daughter
Paperback
Unified after a bitter civil war, Japan is rapidly turning into a modern country with rickshaws, railways and schools for girls. Commoners can marry their children into any class, and the old hatred between north and south is over – or so it seems.
Taka is from the powerful southern Satsuma clan which now dominates the country, and her father, General Kitaoka, is a leader of the new government. Nobu, however, is from the northern Aizu clan, massacred by the Satsuma in the civil war. Defeated and reduced to poverty, his family has sworn revenge on the Satsuma.
Taka and Nobu’s love is unacceptable to both their families and must be kept secret, but what they cannot foresee is how quickly the tables will turn. Many southern samurai become disillusioned with the new regime, which has deprived them of their swords, status and honour. Taka’s father abruptly leaves Tokyo and returns to the southern island of Kyushu, where trouble is brewing.
When he and his clansmen rise in rebellion, the government sends its newly-created army to put them down. Nobu and his brothers have joined this army, and his brothers now see their chance of revenge on the Satsuma. But Nobu will have to fight and maybe kill Taka’s father and brothers, while Taka now has to make a terrible choice – between her family and the man she loves …
Based on the true story of the ‘last samurai’, Across a Bridge of Dreams is an epic tale of love and war, of a nation divided and a love that can never be.