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The Commoner: A Novel

by: John Burnham Schwartz

: The Commoner: A Novel
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780385515719
ISBN: 0385515715
Label: Nan A. Talese
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: January 22, 2008
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Sales Rank: 59946
Studio: Nan A. Talese



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It is 1959 when Haruko, a young woman of good family, marries the Crown Prince of Japan, the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. She is the first non-aristocratic woman to enter the longest-running, almost hermetically sealed, and mysterious monarchy in the world. Met with cruelty and suspicion by the Empress and her minions, Haruko is controlled at every turn. The only interest the court has in her is her ability to produce an heir. After finally giving birth to a son, Haruko suffers a nervous breakdown and loses her voice. However, determined not to be crushed by the imperial bureaucrats, she perseveres. Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman—a rising star in the foreign ministry—to accept the marriage proposal of her son, the Crown Prince. The consequences are tragic and dramatic.

Told in the voice of Haruko, meticulously researched and superbly imagined, The Commoner is the mesmerizing, moving, and surprising story of a brutally rarified and controlled existence at once hidden and exposed, and of a complex relationship between two isolated women who, despite being visible to all, are truly understood only by each other. With the unerring skill of a master storyteller, John Burnham Schwartz has written his finest novel yet.





Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Interesting Fictional Biography
When she is a young woman, the well-educated, tennis-loving Haruko is wooed by the Crown Prince of ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A Beautiful Book in Every Way
I have never read anything by this author before, and when I picked up this book, I was not sure I ... Read More


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - ... Just okay!
My book club read this book and we're all in agreement .... it was just okay. It started out good, ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - An Ordinary Girl Finds Herself In Extraordinary Circumstances
In this roman a clef, Schwartz shows the life being drained from a vibrant young woman who falls in ... Read More


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - 1.5 out of 2: Good premise, Poor Execution
The Commoner tells the story of Haruku, the daughter of a Japanese business man who catches the eye ... Read More

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