Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2020, a vivid work of history that explores the life of an unconventional woman in Edo - now known as Tokyo - and a portrait of a great city on the brink of momentous change
''Compelling... Deeply absorbing'' Guardian
The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in 1804 in a village in Japan''s snow country and was expected to lead a life much like her mother''s. Instead - after three divorces and with a temperament much too strong-willed for her family''s approval - she ran away to follow her own path in Edo, the city we now call Tokyo.
Stranger in the Shogun''s City is a rare, captivating portrait of one woman as she endeavours to recreate herself and her life, and provides a window into the drama and excitement of Japan at a pivotal moment in history.
''Marvellous... Stanley builds up a picture of Tsuneno''s world, immersing us in an experience akin to time travel'' TLS
* Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography 2020 *
* Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography 2021 *
* Winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography *
* Longlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown *
