Title

The Tale of Murasaki

novel, historical fic.

10+

N. Zuwiyya

Liza Dalby

Vestal Public Library

Oct. 5, 2000

The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby is a fascinating novel

that would be called historical fiction. In fact, the history in this

novel takes us back to 11^th century Japan and into the palace

where the emperor and empress live and work. The main

character, Fuiji, grows up in the shadow of the palace because

her father works there. He is very well educated, and likewise

she too becomes very knowledgeable about the world as she

grows up.

The story is about this young girl Fuiji who grows up without

her mother who has died. She learns Chinese and she loves to

write poetry and tell stories. She keeps a diary throughout her

lifetime. Once she reaches her teenage years, her father decides

to give her to his best friend as a token of his friendship. The

marriage turns out to be quite different from what she had

expected. By this time, she has become a writer who is well

known for her Tales of Genji, a kind of Japanese Romeo who

lives at the palace and chases most of the young women. Every

one who reads her stories loves them, and she becomes more

and more famous. Eventually she goes to the palace to work for

the empress. Her dream has come true.

The novel is filled with beautiful descriptions of palace life.

It is also very interesting to see the conflicts Fuiji goes through

in her life. One can learn a lot of history and a lot about life

from reading about Lady Murasaki, her adult name taken from

the name of one of her characters she has created. It's a great

and long book that moved quickly and was extremely interesting.