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A Lady in Kyoto

A Lady in Kyoto

Summary

All moonlight is moving, wherever it may be…

Japanese gentlewoman Sei Shonagon invites us to look behind the painted screens in the Emperor’s palace and discover a lost world, in which games of poetry are the highest form of wit, lovers send each other elegant morning-after letters, and appreciation of the natural world – wild geese in autumn, the pure white frost of winter – is one of life’s most exquisite pleasures.

About the author

Sei Shonagon

Sei Shonagon (?966-?1017) was a gentlewoman in the court of Empress Teishi, in what is now Kyoto, Japan. She lived at the height of the Heian period and used the ins and outs of life at court to inspire her writing.
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