In the Shade of Spring Leaves

“The Danly-Ichiyo book is one of those works where the author and subject seem so perfectly matched that the style of each suffuses and inspires the other: Danly as translator and commentator picks up and transforms Ichiyo’s blend of formal and colloquial language into flowing, strong, modern terms; she, in turn, spreads her wit, her melancholy, her sudden piercing insights to Danly.” —Jonathan Spence, New Society