The Commoner: A Novel
John Burnham Schwartz
Jan 2008 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Janet Song
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9 hr 1 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
It is 1959 when Haruko, a young woman of good family, marries the Crown Prince of Japan, the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. She is the first nonaristocratic woman to enter the mysterious, almost hermetically sealed, and longest-running monarchy in the world. Met with cruelty and suspicion by the Empress and her minions, Haruko is controlled at every turn. The only interest the court has in Haruko is her ability to produce an heir. After finally giving birth to a son, she suffers a nervous breakdown and loses her voice. However, determined not to be crushed by the imperial bureaucrats, Haruko perseveres. Thirty years later, now Empress herself, she plays a crucial role in persuading another young woman–a rising star in the foreign ministry–to accept the marriage proposal of her son, the Crown Prince. The consequences are tragic and dramatic.
Told from Haruko’s perspective, meticulously researched, and superbly imagined, THE COMMONER is the mesmerizing, moving, and surprising story of a brutally rarefied and controlled existence at once hidden and exposed, and of a complex relationship between two isolated women who, despite being visible to all, are truly understood only by each other.
Told from Haruko’s perspective, meticulously researched, and superbly imagined, THE COMMONER is the mesmerizing, moving, and surprising story of a brutally rarefied and controlled existence at once hidden and exposed, and of a complex relationship between two isolated women who, despite being visible to all, are truly understood only by each other.
About the author
John Burnham Schwartz is the author of five acclaimed novels, including The Commoner, Claire Marvel, Bicycle Days, and Reservation Road, which was made into a motion picture based on his screenplay. His books have been translated into two dozen languages, and his writing has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. A winner of the Lyndhurst Foundation Award for mastery in the art of fiction, Schwartz has taught at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Harvard University, and Sarah Lawrence College, and is currently literary director of the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Aleksandra Crapanzano, and their son, Garrick.
Janet Song has performed with numerous theater companies throughout the United States. Her recent shows include Twelfth Night, Nora, and Medea. She is the recipient of a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in Morticians in Love at the Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles.
Janet Song has performed with numerous theater companies throughout the United States. Her recent shows include Twelfth Night, Nora, and Medea. She is the recipient of a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in Morticians in Love at the Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles.
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