A new translation of one of classical Japan's greatest literary works

‘It is from a desire not to let this impulse count for nothing that I have written this foolish tale of mine. I have no hope that it will remain for future generations to remember me by’

Japanese noblewoman Lady Nijo was made the Emperor’s concubine aged fourteen and then, after several illicit affairs, was expelled from the palace, becoming a nun and travelling the country in pilgrimage. A Tale Unasked is her extraordinary memoir of her eventful life, lost for centuries and discovered in the Imperial Library. Filled with startling revelations of the secret intrigues, splendour and sexual politics of courtly life, it is also a moving portrait of a woman of rich intelligence and sensitivity trying to survive in a difficult world. This new translation beautifully renders the sinuous elegance of a remarkable work of classical Japanese literature.

Translated by Meredith McKinney

In thirteenth-century Japan, there lived a woman called Lady Nijo. Born into a noble family, she became by turns an imperial concubine, the mother of four children by three different men, and, last of all, a wandering nun. Reading this beautiful translation of her memoirs, you feel as if Nijo were sitting beside you, whispering her story across the centuries that divide her world from ours. -- Dr Janine Beichman

Lady Nijo (Author)
Lady Nijo (1258–after 1307) was a Japanese noblewoman, poet and author. She was raised in the court of Emperor Go-Fukakusa and became his concubine, before being expelled for her affairs with other men. She became a travelling Buddhist nun and eventually wrote a memoir, Towazugatari ('A Tale Untold'). It survived in a single copy and remained hidden for years in the library of the Imperial Family Household before being rediscovered in 1940.

Meredith McKinney (Translator)
Meredith McKinney is a translator of Japanese literature. She lived in Japan for twenty years and is Honorary Associate Professor at the Australian National University in Canberra. Her translations for Penguin Classics include The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, Essays in Idleness and Hojoki by Kenko and Chomei, two novels by Natsume Soseki and an anthology of classical Japanese travel writing, Travels with a Writing Brush.