Troubled Waters - Ichiyo Higuchi and a sketch of Italy's

and a sketch of Italy's moral

In the Tokyo suburbs four women work the draining graveyard shift at a boxed-lunch factory

Victor Hugo's tale of injustice

and the days of the Habsburg Monarchy are numbered

finds herself unable to write

Troubled Waters - Ichiyo Higuchi and a sketch of Italy'sIchiyo Higuchi, Japan's first professional female author, wrote about daily life with unprecedented intimacy and honesty. This new translation of her finest stories showcases the profound sensitivity, lyrical eye and classical elegance of a revered Japanese writer. Vividly evoking the colourful festivals and salty street banter of Tokyo's turn of the century red light district, delicately eliciting its inhabitants' quiet yearning and regret, Higuchi