The Waiting Years

by Fumiko Enchi

Book Overview

The beautiful, immature girl whom she took home to her husband was a maid only in name. Tomo's real mission had been to find him a mistress. Nor did her secret humiliation end there. The web that his insatiable lust spun about him soon trapped another young woman, and another ... and the relationships between the women thus caught were to form, over the years, a subtle, shifting pattern in which they all played a part. There was Suga, the innocent,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 477002889X
• ISBN13: 9784770028891
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Kodansha
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.4" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Step into a totally different cultural experience

Not a word is wasted in this short and powerful novel covering decades in the life of the Shirakawas, a Japanese family from a century ago, and offering an intense and fascinating look into intimate relationships and suppressed emotions. . The story begins with Yukitomo asking his wife Tomo to choose a concubine for him, someone young and inexperienced who will also serve as a maid for her. Though Tomo is not yet 30 he has already tired of her and she has become used to his appetite for many affairs, while choosing a mistress for her husband can be perceived as an insult she considers herself fortunate to have control over what woman will be brought into her home and family life. As the years go on a second concubine is acquired, geishas visit frequently, and eventually the aging Yukitomo even takes his own daughter-in-law as his mistress. Through it all Tomo is left with the management of the estate and the care of the family.Recommended for those who are interested in marriages involving concubines.

One of the Best Books I've Read

This book took my breath away. Fumiko Enchi describes the life of Tomo, who deals with her adulterous husband with amazing strength. In a complex marriage of love and hate, Tomo is sent to choose a concubine for her husband, find a husband for the other concubine he doesn't want, and worry about his affair with her daughter-in-law. While she may seem like a cold and unfeeling woman who is a stickler to tradition, Enchi shows the reader the gentle, compassionate side of Tomo. Tomo in the end is finally able to defeat her husband in an intelligent, almost classy manner.What strikes me about the book is the way Enchi explains the motivations and fears of each of the characters. Even though I couldn't stand Tomo's husband, Yukitomo, at least I understood why he treated his wife so coldly. As in reality, everyone has different layers. The plot of the book is also interesting. Do not wait to read the "The Waiting Years"!

great book.

I first had to read this book for a East-Asian Novel class, and recently have read it again. I was struck more this time by the pure torture the Main character, Tomo, had to endure through the years with her unfaithful husband Yukitomo. The book, to put it in the most threadbare terms, tells of a woman who although basically runs the entire household is pushed aside by her lustful husband into the role of wife in name only while he has relations with not only two young women young enough to be his daughters, one who he had his purchase for him, but also his son's wife. Tomo is caught between her husband's licentatious ways and a samurai ethic that keeps her bound to him. a great quick read

Cultural Insight and a Marevlous Story in one!

The Waiting Years shares the unhurried pace of much Japanese literature. This helps to set the flavor of the world in which the story is based...a world where things take time and waiting is necessary.The story highlights many inequalities in traditional Japanese society - with a strong focus on the inequality of women - using believable characters. Enchi shows us both sides of the coin, making us understand each character's actions even when the action evokes outrage.Enchi is one of Japan's foremost female authors and this book is a fine example of why. Very highly recommended for all but those who need a fast paced yarn.

do your best to find this book!

Sparingly and richly written, The Waiting Years is classically Japanese and yet entirely modern. The story of a wife who faithfully, if not spitefully, serves her philandering hunsband, this novel presents an amazing range of psychological situations while never straying from a very taut artistry. I don't know if copies are easily found, but the search would prove well worth it to the successful.