The
Commoner: A Novel ,
by John Burnham Schwartz (Read by Janet Song)
Once upon a time there was a young Japanese girl
who was born a commoner but grew up to become the honored
Empress of Japan… but that's when the fairy tale ended.
Although this book is a fictional account, it is based so
closely on the real life happenings of the current Empress
of Japan that it seems more like a biography than a novel.
The fictional empress, Haruko Endo, daughter of a Tokyo businessman,
attracts the attention of the Crown Prince of Japan when she
audaciously beats him at tennis. She agrees to marry him although
she fears that living in the cloistered world of the monarchy
will restrict her freedoms. What she doesn't realize is that
her mother-in-law and the royal household despise her and
will spend decades making her life miserable until she herself
becomes Empress. Deep depression claims Haruko's spirit and
voice, leaving her with only her children and her husband
for happiness. When her only son declares his love for a commoner,
Haruko must decide whether to put the future of the monarchy
and her son's happiness ahead of the young girl's, and the
result is another unhappy royal prisoner in the Chrysanthemum
Court.
It's ironic that such a sad story could be the
basis for such a beautiful book. Haruko Endo and Keiko Mori
are based on the current Empress Michiko and Crown Princess
Masako of Japan. Both were commoners before winning the hearts
of their royal husbands, and both have publicly suffered depression
because of their private miseries as members of the Japanese
monarchy. John Burnham Schwartz presents a meticulously researched
account of life in post-war Japan, both in the villages of
common citizens and in the palaces of the imperial rulers.
Told in the first person, the narrator Janet Song casts a
spell as the spirited and then broken Haruko, reliving her
story of capturing the Crown Prince and ultimately being imprisoned
by his handlers.
Although she was culturally and educationally
accomplished as the privileged daughter of a wealthy business
owner, Haruko was scorned as common and course by the Empress
and the royal servants. Her pain of isolation and rejection
seems even more intense when contrasted by Schwartz' descriptions
of the gentle, serene beauty of Japanese music, art and traditions.
This intensely powerful but beautiful story is like the flower
of a persistent blossom breaking through the hard soil that
encases its bulb. The beauty is evident, the struggle isn't,
and without an author's uncovering of the inside story, we'd
never appreciate the reality behind the illusion. Most enjoyable
and highly recommended.
Ruth
Mormon
2/15/08
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