The Snow Fox

About this book

"Is one's fate created by the people one is lucky or unlucky enough to love? The Snow Fox raises this question as it brings to life three people who existed almost one thousand years ago in Japan. One of them is Lord Norimasa, whose highest love is to reunify his country and restore peace. The second is a member of his court, Lady Utsu, one of the supreme poetic geniuses of her time. She is also a woman renowned as the country's most beautiful woman, as famous for her cruelty as for her beauty and artistry. The third is Matsuhito, a samurai who apprentices himself to Lord Norimasa, and who, in time, becomes a legendary warrior." "When Matsuhito and Lady Utsu fall hopelessly in love, the lives of these three are forever changed. Separated by the warfare ravaging Japan, Matsuhito and Lady Utsu do not meet until both of them have aged so greatly that they no longer recognize each other. But when they do discover each other, their ecstatic and long-delayed reunion is shadowed by the caprices and cruelty of time, the transience of all living things, or what the Japanese call mono no aware." "The Snow Fox not only portrays a great and moving love story but also paints memorable portraits of characters at all levels of society: a man who loves to paint on skin, Shinda the resourceful bandit, the nobleman who freezes to death for love, and the eta, the untouchables who inhabit graveyards and other forbidden places. Last but not least are two remarkable foxes who in their own way, live as meaningful and influential lives as any human being."--Jacket.