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Product Description
MY WEEKLY
Thoroughly researched, this beautifully descriptive historical saga offers a fascinating insight into the culture of imperial Japan, and will have you hooked from the first page - wonderful
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
WOMAN&HOME, March 08
'Enthralling story that brings alive a distant exotic world'
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was a spell-binding, engrossing and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I had previously read Lesley Downer's study into the life of Geisha and found her an engaging and accessible author. I'm not a real fan of novels, but knowing that Downer had written it and that she had a broad and in-depth knowledge of Japanese history made me pick it up. I am so glad I did! It is absolutely amazing, the characters are well formed, the storyline engrossing and the backdrop of 1860s Japan awe inspiring. I read the whole thing in a matter of days (barely sleeping because I NEEDED to know what happened next!)
Some of the 1 Star reviews here complain about historical inaccuracy, but obviously these people did not read the book all the way through. Downer writes in the afterword that, while most of the setting is historically accurate, some has been stretched to fit into her story. And she explains which bits have been! She also lists a bibliography at the end for us to do our own further reading.
Some of the 1 Star reviews here complain about historical inaccuracy, but obviously these people did not read the book all the way through. Downer writes in the afterword that, while most of the setting is historically accurate, some has been stretched to fit into her story. And she explains which bits have been! She also lists a bibliography at the end for us to do our own further reading.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a gripping, thrilling read, with a feisty heroine and a to-die-for hero. One of those books that you really don't want to come to an end. It's the story of Sachi, a young girl from a lowly village who through sheer happenstance becomes the last concubine of the reigning Shogun. Then war breaks out and she's forced to flee. On the road she teams up with a band of gruff samurai warriors, including the charismatic Shinzaemon. Through Sachi Lesley Downer tells the story of a nation in turmoil. She transports the reader to another world, one almost beyond comprehension in which the language and customs differ radically from ours. It's a thrilling and intensely romantic read, full of passion, sword fights (Sachi is an expert with the halberd) and the complexities of a society turned upside down. Downer succeeds brilliantly in recreating an entire world, one I could really see in my mind's eye. The descriptions of natural scenery - the mountain paths and urban vistas; the sights, the smells, and the sounds - are all very real and believable and wonderfully evocative of place, season, and Japan in the mid-nineteenth century. If you loved Shogun and Memoirs of a Geisha, as I did, you'll love this.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lesley Downer is that rare thing, an expert with a gift for sharing her encyclopaedic knowledge entertainingly. She writes with a sure, light touch - and she brings nineteenth-century Japan to life. The account of travelling on foot through the mountains to Tokyo in the last days of the Shogunate is atmospheric and masterly, as are the descriptions of customs, clothes, food, fads and even scents in the Japan of the period. The author takes the reader into a vanished world at the heart of which is a love story where destinies are decided on the strength of a look or a fleeting touch. The plot includes the obligatory foreigner - but it is a measure of Downer's success that she doesn't really need her enterprising British diplomat as an entrée to the world she describes: she has already made the reader completely at home. The Last Concubine can be thoroughly recommended to anyone with an interest in Japan or an appetite for stories of adventure and romance. Like one of the previous reviewers I very much look forward to the movie.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Trying to give it another chance
I have read Downer's book on life as a geisha and while it gives a wonderful insight I must admit even then I wasn't very engaged with her writing style, I think I just expected... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Shauni Crystal Lane
an ok book
bit long winded could have been been 100 pages less .the over all story good but parts needed to cut back to keep the reader interested
Published 3 months ago by barbara talbot
could not put it down, would make a fantastic film too.
I loved this book and got no work at home done until I finished it. Nice to know a lot of the characters were actual people. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Alison
The Last Concubine
I have never read this author's books before, but have found The Last Concubine to be informative and exciting, both from an historic as well as contents aspect. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Pingsquitch
Great Reading
The Last Concubine was recommended by a friend as a must read, and as we had both lived in Japan a long time I thought I would give it a go, you need to invest time to read it... Read more
Published on 1 May 2010 by Bookworm
Enjoyable, but inconsistent
An enjoyable romp and quite a page turner, but I found the inconsistencies spoilt it. At one point it is as if the author has decided to reinvent some events in the main... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2009 by D. Stanley
love the book
a work of art. once you start reading it you won't be able to stop. Its my first book from Lesley Downer and its very great. Read more
Published on 21 Aug 2009 by Ms. S. V. Moyo
Very enjoyable
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. At first I started to read it because of the reviews refering to a romance between court lady Sachi(the last concubine of the... Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2009 by val
A solid read
This is a good read for dark, rainy nights when there is little else to distract you.
Its excessive use of coincidences and the sometimes overly gooey romance do grate, but... Read more
Its excessive use of coincidences and the sometimes overly gooey romance do grate, but... Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2009 by Susannah
A dissapointing read
I had high hopes of the lost concubine in the early stages of the book. However as I progressed through it I became increasingly disappointed. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2008 by Mr. P. Bowman
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