Sword and Blossom: A British Officer's Enduring Love for a Japanese Woman
Penguin, June 2006
A True-Life Madame Butterfly
The Rise and Fall of a Romance Between Two People and Two Nations
This is the true story of an extraordinary love affair that began when a young Army officer fell in love with a Japanese woman in the early years of the twentieth century. An astonishing story of enduring love and great loss, Sword and Blossom is based on a treasure trove of more than eight hundred letters that chronicle Arthur Hart-Synnot and Masa Suzuki's attempts to make a life together despite long periods of separation, racial prejudice, and political turbulence. Their doomed relationship, like that of their countries, was part of a confused age of extremes and contradictions, of violence and beauty, and of destinies etched out amid the conflicts of their day.
hardcover | ISBN: 9781594200892 | Publication Date: June 2006
Reviews:
"The essence of this inexpressibly beautiful story will remain with me,
I believe, for the rest of my life."
--Simon Winchester
"A fascinating narrative that spans decades . . . you'll be
stirred."
--Entertainment Weekly
"Their story of love and separation not only fascinates but also
enlightens our understanding of an important turning point in history."
--Akira Iriye, author of Across the Pacific
