Eight Million Gods and Demons - Softcover

Hiroko Sherwin was born in Nagoya, Japan, and was evacuated to the countryside when the city was bombed during the Second World War. She later moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where her three daughters were born. She served as a special correspondent for the Japanese newspaper Yomuiri USA and wrote four books in Japanese about American women and society. This is her first novel.

Eight million gods and demons, the number of deities in the Japanese pantheon, reflect the chaos in Japan between the Meiji Era and the end of World War II. Beginning with the child bride, Emi, who marries the politician, Taku, despite her tender age and ailing health, and concluding with the stoic tribulations of their family through the wreckage of World War II, Sherwin takes the reader into her historical love story with ease. Taku recognizes Emi's golden personality as worthy of his devotion despite her weak physical constitution and inability to produce healthy children, but Taku cannot help being attracted to a local geisha named Hana, who is beautiful, strong, and regal as a peacock. Hana's demeanor is haughty, but her heart is wrapped in stone; Taku takes her for his mistress, but the pain he has caused sweet Emi and the greed of his newfound lover are the bitter facts he must endure. This is a captivating first novel spanning four generations of love, loss, and irony. Elsa Gaztambide
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