Helpful Score: 3
Overall the book left me a bit unsatisfied. It was a slow read to start; it took until Chapter 8 to get moving. Once it got going it was very interesting and a page turner in the middle. LOTS of detail, then suddenly the story skips forward 3 DECADES after Haruko "lost her voice". The story is very sad. It reminded me of Princess Diana and the royal trap that she, also a commoner, fell into for love. It made me wonder if perhaps the court was wrong to break with tradition and allow the Crown Prince to marry a commoner. As Haruko's father put it so bluntly to Dr. Watnabe there was too big of a gulf, an ocean, between Haruko and Shige for the union to work. Haruko herself became one of her imperial tormentors by convincing Keiko to marry her son. After decades in the Imperial Palace she could not have been so naive to think she could protect Keiko. The fact that all female princesses are removed from the Imperial Register upon their marriage is telling. The ending was a bit too convenient and unresolved. I gave it 3 stars.
