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In exchange for agreeing to an arranged marriage, Gonji is allowed to have one week of complete freedom. Onoto Watanna’s The Honorable Miss Moonlight is a romance novel that follows a young man who rather be a scholar than a husband. With themes of gender, sexuality, and identity, The Honorable Miss Moonlight is a provocative representation of 20th century Asian culture.
About the author
Winnifred Eaton, (1875-1954) better known by her penname,
Onoto Watanna was a Canadian author and screenwriter of Chinese-British ancestry. First published at the age of fourteen, Watanna worked a variety of jobs, each utilizing her talent for writing. She worked for newspapers while she wrote her novels, becoming known for her romantic fiction and short stories. Later, Watanna became involved in the world of theater and film. She wrote screenplays in New York, and founded the Little Theatre Movement, which aimed to produced artistic content independent of commercial standards. After her death in 1954, the Reeve Theater in Alberta, Canada was built in her honor.
Summary
When the day of Lord Saito Gonji’s birthday arrives, Gonji celebrates with dread, knowing that in a week, he will be married. Sent away in his youth for samurai training, and then to higher education, Gonji is very connected to his studies. After his intelligence is proven, his professors even tell Gonji that he would do great things for Japan one day. However, since he is the youngest son in his family, Gonji is expected to marry—a social expectation that he cannot get around. Now, on his birthday, he is expected to marry a childhood friend, Ohano in one week, which will greatly interfere with his studies. When his family notice how upset Gonji is over the arranged marriage, they grant him one week of pure freedom, allowing him to do whatever he chooses. Soon into the week, Gonji meets a famous dancer. Known by the stage name of Spider, the dancer was at the height of her career after being trained by the most celebrated geisha in Japan. When Spider and Gonji become intimate during the week, their fleeting encounter soon proves to complicate the plans Gonji’s parents made for him.
Featuring complex and memorable characters as well as detailed descriptions of Japanese customs and landscapes, The Honorable Miss Moonlight depicts a vivid portrait of 20th century Japan. With themes of gender, sexuality, identity, and a close perspective of the honor/shame culture of Japan in the 1900s, The Honorable Miss Moonlight is as enlightening as it is entertaining.
First published in 1912, The Honorable Miss Moonlight is one of Onoto Watanna’s most famous works, yet is rarely found in print. This special edition features a stunning cover design and is printed in an easy-to-read font. With these accommodations, this edition caters to contemporary readers by restoring the novel to modern standards while preserving the original intricacy of Onoto Watanna’s work.
