From Shikibu's journal, she admits to being shy, and occasionally brooding, even morose. I also want to say how much I enjoyed the narration by Allison Hiroto. Bravo! It helps to have completed 'The Tale of Genji', but just some knowledge of the story can help you enjoy Dalby's book like you can get from Wikipedia or another reference. And she provides a new conclusion to the 'Tale of Genji' from the somewhat incomplete ending of the actual Tale. Dalby "solves" the mystery of the gap between Genji's final years and the Tale's pivot to the lives of two of his grandsons, Kaoru, and Niou. From the scarce facts about Shikibu's life, the pages of a journal that she kept about court life, and clues from her masterwork, "The Tale of Genji', Dalby brilliantly imagines a complete life story. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Liza Dalby's fictional autobiography of Japanese great Murasaki Shikibu.
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May 2023
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