The Last Concubine

Sachi is an ordinary girl growing up in rural Japan. Yet she has always felt different, her pale skin and fine features setting her apart from her friends and family. She does not know that her life is about to change, and that she will soon be taken to the Women's Palace in Edo where courtly etiquette and ancient ritual dominate - and where she will be chosen as the concubine of the young ruler, the shogun. But Japan is changing. The Black Ships from the West have come bearing foreigners eager for trade and riches. As civil war erupts, Sachi and her loyal friend Taki flee for their lives across a war-torn land. Rescued by a rebel warrior, she falls passionately in love. But before they can create a life together, Sachi must discover the dark secret of her own origins - a secret that encompasses a wrong so terrible that it now threatens to destroy her.