影媛

Kagehime, daughter of Mononobe no Arakai, is the only priestess able to call down the ancestors and read the divinations, and her father wants her married to the crown prince, a boy of just ten. Taking the shape of a kingfisher, she flies through the forest crying warnings to its creatures, for she resents Shibi, son of Heguri no Matori, who kills for no need. Slowly the two enemies are drawn toward something like love, while behind them lies the forest of a great stag known as the king of the hills and fields, whose life is bound up with theirs. The story grows out of a tale in the Nihon Shoki and borrows the language of the Kojiki and the Man'yoshu.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Length

122 pages in the original

Genres

Historical, Love (assigned by AI)

Set in

Japan

First published

2014 by Shinchosha

Author's age

22 when first published

ISBN

9784103335221 (original)