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Lady Gracia: A Samurai Wife's Love, Strife, and Faith
NHK大河ドラマ「麒麟がくる」で話題
不条理な苦難の中を
命をかけて愛と信仰に生きた
明智光秀の娘・玉子の生涯
「細川ガラシャ夫人」は昭和48年1月号から昭和50年5月号まで『主婦の友』に連載された三浦綾子初の歴史長編小説です。
戦乱相次ぐ時代において、女性は男性の所有物であり、政略の具でもありました。明智光秀の娘として何不自由なく育てられた玉子も、やがて織田信長の命により細川忠興へ嫁ぐこととなります。
時代と宿命に翻弄され、壮絶な生涯を送った玉子。愛と信仰を光に人間らしく生き抜いた姿、その言葉を朗読でご堪能下さい。
本オーディオブックは『細川ガラシャ夫人（上）』、『細川ガラシャ夫人（下）』(ともに新潮文庫)を収録したものです。
不条理な苦難の中を
命をかけて愛と信仰に生きた
明智光秀の娘・玉子の生涯
「細川ガラシャ夫人」は昭和48年1月号から昭和50年5月号まで『主婦の友』に連載された三浦綾子初の歴史長編小説です。
戦乱相次ぐ時代において、女性は男性の所有物であり、政略の具でもありました。明智光秀の娘として何不自由なく育てられた玉子も、やがて織田信長の命により細川忠興へ嫁ぐこととなります。
時代と宿命に翻弄され、壮絶な生涯を送った玉子。愛と信仰を光に人間らしく生き抜いた姿、その言葉を朗読でご堪能下さい。
本オーディオブックは『細川ガラシャ夫人（上）』、『細川ガラシャ夫人（下）』(ともに新潮文庫)を収録したものです。
First published January 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 8, 2021
3.5 stars. Fiction novel based on historical figures and events. If I understand correctly from others who told me about this book, the story follows actual history pretty closely. Helpful read to gain insight into Japanese history, culture, and history of Christianity in Japan prior to its stamping out by Tokugawa Ieyasu. What I found unique was seeing the perspective of a samurai wife (ie nobility) becoming a Christian. Ayako Miura is a Japanese Christian author whose books are well known and read by many Japanese where so few (approx. <.2% of the population) are Christian. Besides the expected “Asian melodrama” throughout, heavy themes regarding loyalty and honor, this is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Japanese history and culture.
October 27, 2026
This is a truly excellent historical novel, capturing the complexities and drama of what was probably the most turbulent era of Japanese history, the Sengoku ‘Warring States’ Era.
Instead of the usual good fare I’ve read in this genre, Lady Gracia is less about blade meeting blade on a sodden battlefield, or the male ego seeking to overcome any and all competitors, and more about the female perspective. What was a Samurai woman like? What could and couldn’t she realistically do? What would she have felt at the tumult of the times she lived in? I feel that this novel superbly answers all of those questions. It is, in a sense, a worthy companion to James Clavell’s popular work Shogun, which features characters that are based on Gracia and others from her time.
As the title says, the novel is about Hosokawa Tama, baptised as ‘Gracia’, who was a sublime beauty and a contemporary of the most famous figures of her age. She was daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide who betrayed the powerful Oda Nobunaga at Honnoji, wife of Hosokawa Tadaoki, heir of one of the most famous and illustrious clans in Japan, and played a pivotal role in the ending of the civil war era when she surrendered her life so that other war hostage families might live. Perhaps most interestingly, she was a Catholic convert who fully embraced the ‘new’ Western faith at a time when it could be fatal to do so as persecution and death lurked around every corner.
While this book imagines her beliefs and spiritual convictions, it is more of a rollicking historical fiction ride which takes in the whole of her life - most of it being pre-conversion - and captures the thrilling events of the period in which she lived. Because of that, I’m a little disappointed that the subtitle of the book says ‘A Samurai Wife’s Love, Strife and Faith’, because while it is a novel aimed at a female audience it is also a jolly good read in terms of politicking and ‘Bushido’: the way of the Samurai. It depicts well both the masculine and feminine sides of that time, with credible male and female characters. Miura Ayako deserves a lot of credit for that balance.
Seeing as this is a novel full of historical characters from a very fascinating but short window of Japanese history, it probably isn’t for everyone who doesn’t share this niche interest, but I had a great time reading it. I’ll end with a quote from the novel that gives you a sense of the character of Gracia and her determination to live life on her own terms:
When she was barely thirteen, she already felt the problem keenly. “Why was I born a woman?” she had said then. “Women are weaker than men, and I find that degrading.” But most women of her time never thought seriously about the matter at all. Perhaps Tama realised it because her father had loved her mother so much as a person. In any case, though, the naturally proud Tama could not endure being treated simply as a thing.
Instead of the usual good fare I’ve read in this genre, Lady Gracia is less about blade meeting blade on a sodden battlefield, or the male ego seeking to overcome any and all competitors, and more about the female perspective. What was a Samurai woman like? What could and couldn’t she realistically do? What would she have felt at the tumult of the times she lived in? I feel that this novel superbly answers all of those questions. It is, in a sense, a worthy companion to James Clavell’s popular work Shogun, which features characters that are based on Gracia and others from her time.
As the title says, the novel is about Hosokawa Tama, baptised as ‘Gracia’, who was a sublime beauty and a contemporary of the most famous figures of her age. She was daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide who betrayed the powerful Oda Nobunaga at Honnoji, wife of Hosokawa Tadaoki, heir of one of the most famous and illustrious clans in Japan, and played a pivotal role in the ending of the civil war era when she surrendered her life so that other war hostage families might live. Perhaps most interestingly, she was a Catholic convert who fully embraced the ‘new’ Western faith at a time when it could be fatal to do so as persecution and death lurked around every corner.
While this book imagines her beliefs and spiritual convictions, it is more of a rollicking historical fiction ride which takes in the whole of her life - most of it being pre-conversion - and captures the thrilling events of the period in which she lived. Because of that, I’m a little disappointed that the subtitle of the book says ‘A Samurai Wife’s Love, Strife and Faith’, because while it is a novel aimed at a female audience it is also a jolly good read in terms of politicking and ‘Bushido’: the way of the Samurai. It depicts well both the masculine and feminine sides of that time, with credible male and female characters. Miura Ayako deserves a lot of credit for that balance.
Seeing as this is a novel full of historical characters from a very fascinating but short window of Japanese history, it probably isn’t for everyone who doesn’t share this niche interest, but I had a great time reading it. I’ll end with a quote from the novel that gives you a sense of the character of Gracia and her determination to live life on her own terms:
When she was barely thirteen, she already felt the problem keenly. “Why was I born a woman?” she had said then. “Women are weaker than men, and I find that degrading.” But most women of her time never thought seriously about the matter at all. Perhaps Tama realised it because her father had loved her mother so much as a person. In any case, though, the naturally proud Tama could not endure being treated simply as a thing.
October 3, 2024
I can't stop admiring Lady Gracia's dignity and strength. She is intelligent and loving, and also teaches us to wait for the best times while actively living them during Sengoku era. (Samurai period)
August 3, 2025
Heartbreak poor Parkinson's disease lady Miura Ayako! It's ability, not disability, that counts! If we could we live happy and healthy lives sans harming others, why wouldn't we? Normal is a setting on a dryer/machine et cetera! One from this author; one from Ewing/E.W. Mays; the other from Edgar's Mission; etc!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews