The sequel to Across the Nightingale Floor follows the separate fates of young lovers, Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede, as they fight for survival in a violent time of war, famine and treacherous alliances.
Takeo has pledged his life to the secret Tribe. His supernatural skills of invisibility and acute hearing make him their most deadly assassin. He must deny the spiritual vows of his upbringing, his birthright of Otori wealth, land and power - and his love for Kaede. If he does not serve the Tribe, they will kill him. In growing from boy to man, Takeo chooses a path of danger and vengeance, and learns of the prophecy that shapes his destiny.
Kaede, destined to submit to a political marriage, must use her intelligence, beauty and cunning to assert her place in a world of all-powerful men - who must never know that she is carrying Takeo's child.
In the ancient Oriental lands of the Otori, Lian Hearn has created a brilliantly imagined culture that has cast its spell over thousands of readers worldwide. Here is epic storytelling whose appeal crosses genres, genders and generations.
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Meanwhile Kaede, pregnant by Takeo, returns to her dilapidated family estate and--without any magical talents to help her--determinedly begins to consolidate power and fight with all her intelligence, personality and beauty against the universal view that women are of no account except as wives. Her inheritance, she's told, will make her future husband a key player in the feudal power-struggle. So she thinks: "why should I not become a key player myself?"
The sense of place is strong and effective, as is the irony that in these times of unrest and upheaval the warrior class also cultivates appreciation of exquisite things. Elaborate preparation of tea, for example, or watching snowfall by lantern-light, or collecting ceramics too fine to be kept on display for profane eyes. This, Kaede fears, is how that lordly collector would like to keep her: beautifully wrapped and hidden away.
Inevitably Takeo breaks with the Tribe again and learns more about his other heritage as an Otori Lord. He also learns that there's a prophecy that he himself can buy peace for the troubled land after five battles: "four to win and one to lose". Compelling and evocative, Grass for His Pillow ends on a high note of suspense. The trilogy is to conclude with Brilliance of the Moon. --David Langford
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. FIRST EDITION (UK) in dust jacket. AS NEW. Seller Inventory # ABE-1701394275878