R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 12/12/2016 + 1452 more book reviews

One of the reviews I read stated: "Fudoki is simply lovely." I can't help but agree. I fell in love with the work of this author when I read The Fox Woman. Both are such wonderful stories that help the reader peek into Japanese culture. This one has the story teller as a princess, Harueme, whose life is curtailed by who she is, health and old age. She becomes obsessed with telling a story about a cat who becomes a woman. It is her last accomplishment before she dies.

Fudoki is "self and soul and home and shrine, all in one to a cat" described by another reader. When the cat is caught in a fire sparked by an earthquake she loses her family and her identity. As she wonders through the city she finds herself moving, always moving, looking for a place to belong. As she travels she hears the Japanese gods talking, sometimes to her and sometimes just chattering.

When she finds herself as a woman she becomes a warrior with the instincts and skills of her former form. She fights, kills without remorse, and has sex with another warrior. She wants a normal cat life with kittens and a place of her own. At last she can tell the warriors with whom she fights about her real identity. The story is weaves back and forth between the life of the princess and the cat known as Kagaya-hime. It's beautiful and well written.

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