Jill Rutherford
Book One of the continuing story of the Secret Samurai Trilogy. Two women samurai . . . two different centuries. A story of secrets, lies, love, war and ambition that has consequences for Japan itself. Modern Englishwoman, Bebe Bell, is working in Japan. Time-travel mixes her mind with male samurai, Kai Matsuda. Soon, she is living a double life - her own in modern Japan - and the other living as Kai, fighting in the civil war of the 1860's which changed Japan and consequently, the world. Yoshi is a young woman forced to disguise herself as a samurai in order to survive. Living as a man gives her influence and respect, things she has never experienced as a woman of her time. She becomes intoxicated with the power of it - which takes her life down undreamed of paths. Circumstances bring her into the world of Kai and the attraction between them is immediate, but they are fighting on opposing sides and Yoshi can never disclose her true sex to anyone, especially Kai: but he has Bebe in his mind and events take unexpected turns. In her own life, Bebe falls in love with Kenji Yoshida, a man who hides his true self under a cloak of conventionality and is afraid to find joy in his life. He has a secret that is destroying him and he cannot allow himself to love Bebe. When these four people's lives intermingle, it changes their perceptions, reality and ambitions.
