Extract and reading guide for One Morning Like a Bird
Read an extract from Andrew Miller’s critically acclaimed novel, set against the backdrop of the Second World War.
Tokyo, 1940. While Japan’s war against China escalates, young Yuji Takano clings to his cocooned life: his beloved evenings of French conversation at Monsieur Feneon’s, visits to the bathhouse with friends, his books, his poetry.
But conscription looms and the mood turns against foreigners, just when Yuji gets entangled with Feneon’s daughter. As the nation heads towards conflict with the Allies, Yuji must decide where his duty – and his heart – lies.
