Of One’s Own Making

A sleepless wife waits at midnight for her husband to come home. Elsewhere in the house a young student studies late, and one ordinary act of kindness starts to draw extraordinary attention. Behind Machiko's comfortable life lies another unhappy marriage: her mother's beauty, her father's fierce ambition, and a departure that wealth could not undo. As servants spin their stories and her husband weighs his reputation, sympathy and suspicion grow hard to tell apart.

Of One's Own Making (Warekara, 1896) by Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896) moves between intimate conversation, sharp social comedy and the cruelty of a household bent on protecting its standing. A complete new translation from the Japanese, with a translator's note, 32 endnotes and source information. AI-assisted translation.