The Makioka Sisters

“This is the story of the extinction of the once rich and haughty sisters of a great family through pride and over-refinement, and a recreation of the sumptuous, pleasure-filled upper-class life of Osaka just before the war. Tsuruko, the oldest sister, uncompromising, unadaptable, worn down by money troubles and a large family is forced to move to the competitive world of Tokyo where the Makioka name means nothing. The second sister, Sachiko, is a woman of rare kindness and good sense, who tries her best to hold the family together and to preserve the wonderful life they knew as children. The central theme of the book  is finding a husband for Yukiko, the third sister. She has all the accomplishments of an elegant Japanese lady, yet she finds the strength to refuse a long line of suitors. Taeko, the youngest sister, is a modern girl who tries to break away from her family and to establish herself in a career. She has a series of love affairs, bears a child, and ends up as the wife of a bartender.
The Makioka Sisters is at once a work of art and a unique record of a period and a district.”