The End of Summer

This is a fascinating book that seems to take place in 50s Japan. The book stars Tomoko an independent and successful woman, who has made a name for herself for her kimono designs. She is the longtime mistress of Shingo a man ten years her senior who is an unsucessful novelist. Then there is Ryota, Tomoko's lover from before she met Shingo and with who she sees again after they are reacquainted. The novel's basic theme is the struggles Tomoko goes through with balancing the two affairs, and her guilt of being intimate with Shingo because of his marriage. This is a good book, and the author depicts quite well the disipating of long time relationships