Stranger in the Shogun's City, by Amy Stanley

Stranger In The Shogun's City focuses on the daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno. Born in 1804 in Japan's snow country, she defied convention by running away from her family to Edo, which we now call Tokyo, following her third divorce. Through the letters she sent home, we see her forge her own path in life.

Woven around Tsuneno's story is the history of Edo and Japan at the time. The world was changing and soon Japan would also be changing. The people featured are also gone, which is a sobering thought, but I love that part of them now lives on through the pages of this book.

Overall this was a really interesting and compelling book. Whilst this is essentially a history book, the narrative following Tsuneno and her family added an additional human element. You become invested in her life and want to know how she fares. Considering all that is left of her are the few letters she sent home, and some of the replies, Stanley manages to build up a rounded picture of her personality and impulsive temperament. 

That being said sometimes I felt that Stanley overplayed the "she might have" narrative. The fact is that we don't know a lot of what Tsuneno was thinking, and whilst it is interesting to speculate, there were a few chapters where I felt we were given too many options of what she might have thought, and I found it grating.

But that is a minor grumble really. Overall, this was incredibly well researched, as demonstrated by the extensive notes and bibliography, and is a love letter to Edo, a place which no longer exists. 

I would like to read more from Stanley and would especially like to learn more about her research into Tsuneno and Edo.

- Jenny, @budgetbooklover on Instagram 

Paperback, £9.99. Find it in the History section!

Small Pleasures, by Clare Chambers

Living in London and working for a newspaper in the 50’s, Jean could have been the typically written assertive go-getter woman journalist. But instead the reader meets a gentle soul in Jean. Jean cares for her mother and has to fit in with her way of living, leaving her little freedom. Both the reader and Jean can quite easily see her life stretching into that dull horizon of servitude.

However, Jean grasps at the most intriguing story to investigate: a real-life immaculate conception. Through Jean we learn Gretchen’s story and meet her family. Gretchen seems to have it all: the nice home, a devoted and loving husband, and a wonderful - possibly Godsent - daughter. But things don’t seem to quite add up. 

This story captures the reader from the beginning, with a clip of a newspaper article, which, by the middle of this intriguing tale, I had all but forgotten. As I read, I grew more intrigued by Gretchen’s behaviour than the origins of her conception, although that thread of the story is interesting, and comes into play further down the line.

It’s Chambers's characters and their interactions that really clinch it for me. You become Jean's unseen best friend, and you root for her, and you feel divided over which outcome you want to see: her finding the truth or publishing a mind-blowing article.

- Anara

Paperback, £8.99. Find this in our Fiction section!

[This story does bring up some issues that people with particular triggers may wish to avoid however these instances I felt were dealt with very gently and not in great detail.]