Historical fiction that isn't so fictional

One more book and then I am caught up! And honestly, I haven't read anything for fun since I finished this one, so fresh start after this! But this book was really a pretty great one, so let's get the stats:
Title: The Commoner
Author: John Burnham Schwartz
Publisher: Vintage
Date: 2009
My start date: 3/27/2010
My finish date: 4/3/2010

Schwartz opens his novel with a nice little note that, while inspired by real figures, this book is entirely fictional. So I thought that this was simply a Japanese fairy story. The story revolves around a Japanese girl/young women of common birth and her courtship with the Japanese Crown Prince during the 50s. In the story, this girl is the first commoner to to marry into the Japanese royal family and the story details the extreme hardships she faced as such. So, out of curiousity, I did my usual thing and researched the real Japanese royal family to see when and if the royal family had allowed common blood to marry into the family. Considering the warning, I was mildly surprised that this novel is in fact based very closely on the real life experiences of Empress Michiko. Almost all of the major plot lines carry over to real life. The dates are exact, the place where the couple meet is the same, the major traumas are just as detailed by the media. Later in the novel, Haruko, as the fictionalized version of the Empress is called, must counsel her new daugher-in-law and at this point almost all of the details of the life of the real Crown Princess Masako are also fictionalized into story. So, I guess the warning is just to remind us that no one really knows what the mindset of these women might have been or what conversations took place in reality. After all, this family is one of the most isolated and secluded in the world, so Schwartz is going entirely off of media and has no actual connection to the real Japanese royal family. And to be fair, some of the more minor details (such as number of siblings, offspring, etc) are changed slightly.

Now, having said all that, I don't want to present the idea that I was not pleased with the novel. It was indeed very engaging and I feel like I have a much better understanding of the Japanese royal family now. In fact,I rather like that he kept so close to reality. And if ever there was a fascinating "normal girl marries prince" story, this is it. It paints the reality of being a royal and that reality isn't pretty.

I did have one technical complaint, however. Michiko/Haruko suffers a very well documented nervous breakdown at one point, in which she loses her voice and does not speak for many months. Considering how important of an episode this was in real life, and similarly how traumatic this would have been even in the fictionalized character's life, I didn't feel enough time or depth was spent on this incident. This was a great opportunity to really probe some issues, especially considering the authorial liberty of playing with a "fictional" character at Schwartz's fingertips. I wish he would have done a little more with that episode.

Otherwise, this was a really great read. Anyone with an interest in Asian culture or royal families should definitely consider this novel, and even those who are just looking for entertainment would find something of value in The Commoner.

Whew, caught up! Until next time...

Keep reading!
Sarah