SWORD AND BLOSSOM A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman

In 1982 a cache of letters was found that document a forty-year love affair that began when 32-year-old Arthur Hart-Synnot, a British career officer, fell for his hired housekeeper, 25-year-old Masa Suzuki, the daughter of a Tokyo barber. Robert Ian MacKenzie chronicles this account written by two British journalists. His clear and crisp narration makes it easy to understand people who spent only two significant periods of time together but created a love that crossed continents, endured wars, and produced two children from 1904 to 1942. The narrator makes it easy for listeners to follow the mix of letter excerpts in the context of changing time and places and to feel the emotions that drove their ill-fated passion. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 07]