A reviewer of The Last Concubine in the highly respected Literary Review wrote: ‘The author, who lived in Japan for many years, has published non-fiction accounts of the lives of the geishas, and capitalises on recent Western interest in their esoteric, vanished world with her detailed depiction of Sachi’s life in the rarefied harem.’ I’m … Read more
Tuesday November 18th 7 pm Oxford University Japan Society Oriel College, Oxford Illustrated lecture on The Last Concubine: Secrets of the Women’s Palace Free for members, £1.50 for non-members
Lesley Downer is featured author on the Canadian Penguin Book Club website.
There are two German language interviews with Lesley Downer online at BYM.de and NDRKultur.de, which also includes a radio interview available as an audio podcast.
The Last Concubine will shortly be released in German, published by C. Bertelsmann under the title Die letzte Konkubine.
Japan’s new professional seducers This woman leads a double life. Her boyfriend thinks she’s a secretary. In fact she is one of Japan’s new breed of professional seducers, hired by embittered spouses to entrap their straying partners. And she’ll stop at nothing to get the desired results. Read Full Article This article appeared in the … Read more
The Last Concubine has been published in Italian by Piemme under the title L’ultima concubina.
Monday October 6th 7 pm Borders, York Illustrated lecture on The Last Concubine: Secrets of the Women’s Palace In collaboration with York Japan Day, October 5th/6th Tuesday November 18th 7 pm Oxford University Japan Society Oriel College, Oxford Illustrated lecture on The Last Concubine: Secrets of the Women’s Palace Free for members, £1.50 for non-members … Read more
The Last Concubine has been published in Portuguese by Dom Quixote under the title A Última Concubina.
Thursday July 10th 6 pm Chichester Festivities 2008 Old Kitchen, Bishop’s Palace, Chichester www.chifest.org.uk Illustrated lecture on The Last Concubine: Secrets of the Women’s Palace Wednesday 16th July 11.30am Ways with Words 2008 Barn Theatre, Dartington Hall, Devon www.wayswithwords.co.uk Illustrated lecture on The Last Concubine: Secrets of the Women’s Palace Monday October 6th 7 pm … Read more