THE BOOK OF LOSS takes the reader deep into the heart of 10th century Japan and into a female world of intense emotion. The mysterious narrator, and her rival Izumi, are both ladies-in-waiting at the Imperial court, where all aspects of life are governed by elaborate social rules. It is a society steeped in hypocrisy, for although women are shut off from men behind shutters and silk screens, extramarital affairs are commonplace. Yet despite the apparent sexual liberalism, to be a woman shamed is to be worthless, nameless and to risk exile. At the start of the novel the greatest scandal imaginable has taken place. Kanesuke, the narrator's beloved (and also the lover of Izumi) has seduced the Virgin of Ise - one of the Emperor's daughters. He is banished from court, but his influence grows yet more powerful in the minds of the women left behind. The narrator's sense of loss is unbearable, her passion is all consuming, and now it will push her to extremes of rivalry.