A Daughter of the Samurai - by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Her life was a bridge from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, from the time-hallowed beauty and rigidity of a samurai household to the disorienting, forward-looking freedoms of the West." --Janice P. Nimura, from the foreword.

This is the story of one woman's remarkable life successfully navigating two very different cultures--the first memoir of an Asian-American woman.

Beautifully told, this immigrant's account of an unforgettable journey is the story of a headstrong and empowered woman--a loyal wife, a widowed mother and a bilingual breadwinner--finding her way and finding her voice in a strange new world.

Follow in her footsteps and trace the remarkable trajectory of her life as she:

• Witnesses her father prepare and perform the ritual seppuku and her mother burn down the family home
• Bids an emotional farewell and sails across the ocean to marry a wealthy merchant in a new land
• Returns to Tokyo with her two daughters and mother-in-law, only to find her homeland just as alien as America, forcing her to reinvent herself again in order to provide for her family
• Returns to America with her children following the death of her mother-in-law

An international bestseller when it was first published a century ago, A Daughter of the Samurai emerges as a rare testament to a singular woman's resolve, strength and endurance. This edition features a new foreword by 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist Janice P. Nimura.

Review Quotes

"A book of extraordinary general interest, great historical value, and considerable literary merit." --South China Morning Post

"Her life was a bridge from the nineteenth century to the twentieth, from the time-hallowed beauty and rigidity of a samurai household to the disorienting, forward-looking freedoms of the West." --Janice P. Nimura, from the foreword

"It is never wise for a Japanese woman, if she wishes to retain a position of influence and dignity, to say much on any subject. Actions, not words, are her most successful means of expression; but the time came when I saw that I must speak." --Estu Inagaki Sugimoto

"What a lovely book it is..." --Christopher Morley

About the Author

Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto (1874-1950) was a Japanese-American writer and educator. She began writing essays on Japan for local Cincinnati newspapers to practice her English, then for the magazine Asia, which were later published in book form as A Daughter of the Samurai. This book became an international bestseller. Sugimoto went on to publish several other novels and eventually moved to New York where she taught Japanese language and history at Columbia University.

Janice P. Nimura is the author of Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back, a New York Times Notable book in 2015. More recently, she received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of her work on The Doctors Blackwell, a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in biography.

Christopher Morley (1890-1957) was a journalist, author, lecturer and theatrical producer best known for the novels Parnassus on Wheels, The Haunted Bookshop and Kitty Foyle.