I really wanted to like this book, the premise seemed so compelling. What would it have been like for the illegitimate child of Japanese aristocracy and a U.S. GI in Japan during the period after WW II?

As I started reading it, the set up was good: issues of looking for a male heir, concern about the fall of the aristocracy, issues around gifted children. Yet as I read more, it began to feel like predictable cliches written from an Anglo-American literature perspective.

In the end, it felt like just another romance novel in an exotic setting that failed to live up to its potential and explore any nuances of the complicated intercultural dynamics.