The Last Concubine

Jul 27, 2025 6:18 AM

Author:Lesley Downer

The Last Concubine

Japan, 1865, the women's palace in the great city of Edo.

Bristling with intrigue and erotic rivalries, the palace is home to three thousand women and only one man - the young shogun. Sachi, a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl, is chosen to be his concubine.

But Japan is changing, and as civil war erupts, Sachi flees for her life. Rescued by a rebel warrior, she finds unknown feelings stirring within her; but this is a world in which private passions have no place and there is not even a word for 'love'.

Before she dare dream of a life with him, Sachi must uncover the secret of her own origins - a secret that encompasses a wrong so terrible that it threatens to destroy her ....

Reviews

Fresh, funny and wise, balancing emotional turmoil with a vivid turn of phrase

—— Marie Claire

Funny, sad, unputdownable - an absolute tour de force

—— Katie Fforde

An elegant, funny and moving first novel... a wonderful, memorable musing on life, fate and love

—— Sunday Express

A deeply affecting story ... Rooney confidently moves between two narrators and shifting times, vividly recreating Blitz-torn London and the Africa of the same period

—— Guardian

This heartfelt debut novel offers a witty twist on a WWII romance

—— Red

Packed full of warm, spirited prose that captures the mood of doodlebug London, this is a total joy of a debut novel

—— Good Housekeeping

Wonderful debut novel ... Guaranteed to sweep you away

—— Bella

It is funny, deceptively ambitious, robustly detailed and extremely sad

—— The Sunday Times

Add this to your list', 'this vivid story of lost love is tender, funny and hugely entertaining

—— Marie Claire

A work of a singularly outlandish and compassionate imagination...the novel has one shouting its praises to anybody who is within earshot

—— New Statesman

Enchantingly clever

—— Penny Vincenzi

So fluid, the pages turn themselves

—— Daily Mirror

Irresistible comfort read

—— Glamour

It would be a hard heart indeed that remained unmoved . . . the tender feelings that Noble engenders in her readers are to be cherished

—— Daily Express

Tissues are essential. You'll ricochet between delicately watering eyes at the romance of it all and howling sobs at the unbearable tenderness

—— Heat

Stories, generations and nationalities collide in what is an entertaining and superior novel

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

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