The Floating World: A Dual Biography of Franz von Siebold and Kusumoto Oine
A captivating dual biography about the incredible lives of a European doctor and his Japanese daughter in the nineteenth century.
Kusumoto Ine, the first female doctor in Japan to practise Western medicine, is a household name in her country. Her father, Franz von Siebold – a domineering German serving in the Dutch colony in Japan and one of the few Westerners to experience the land of the rising sun – enjoys the same status in the West.
Elco Lenstra
elco.lenstra@hollandsdiep.nl
In this masterly dual biography, Annejet van der Zijl describes not only their captivating careers but also the historical relationship between Japan and the West. Set at a time when Japan was completely isolated from the outside world, the story appears so far-fetched as to be the product of invention. Just one Dutch trading post, situated on the miniscule artificial island of Dejima off Nagasaki, was authorised to trade with the country.
In 1823, the young German army physician Philipp Franz von Siebold, serving under the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, arrives on the island. He falls in love with the concubine Sonogi, with whom he has a daughter: Oine. Seven years later, the shogunate expels Von Siebold from Japan, tearing him away from the country and his beloved family.
Upon returning to Europe, Franz von Siebold becomes the world’s authority on Japan. His daughter Oine Kusumoto, meanwhile, follows in her father’s footsteps and qualifies as the first female doctor in Japanese history. Father and daughter did everything in their power to see each other again. But when Japan was forced to open its ports in 1854, their reunion takes a completely unexpected course. The Floating World is the captivating and often emotional dual biography of an exceptional father and his equally unique daughter.
This book shows the scale of the influence of Japanese civilisation on Western culture then and now.
A film-like account of a unique story from history
An American Princess - The Many Lives of Allene Tew became a Wall Street Journal bestseller and was selected as one of the best books of 2019 by The Guardian contributor Hilary Mantel.
Annejet van der Zijl is one of the Netherlands’ bestselling authors. Her books have been awarded many prizes, translated and adapted for the screen.
The English translation of her most famous work, Sonny Boy, titled The Boy Between Worlds, achieved international acclaim.
Annejet van der Zijl is the uncrowned queen of literary non-fiction.
NRC
A high-powered and striking dual biography.
de Volkskrant
Van der Zijl has been a master storyteller for over 25 years [...] a magnificent composition.
HP De Tijd
A great and balanced book.
Nederlands Dagblad
Van der Zijl delivers a gripping account of the period, its people and the roles they were expected to play.
Reformatorisch Dagblad
Written with dramatic verve and cinematographic flair.
Trouw
