‘A charming, magical journey through medieval Japan’ Sean LuskAn irresistibly romantic historical adventure by the author of the international bestsellerThe Peculiar Life of a Lonely PostmanMatsuo is expected to become a samurai, like his father before him. But as he is training in the art of war, he realises he was destined for a different art altogether. Turning his back on his future as a warrior of the sword, he decides to do battle with words instead, as a poet.Matsuo’s quest to find his true self, and his true love, takes him through bloody battlefields and burning cities. But his ultimate test will be the uta awase – a tournament where Japan’s greatest poets engage in fierce verbal combat for the honour of victory, and where Matsuo will find himself fighting for his life.PRAISE FORTHE SAMURAI OF THE RED CARNATION’A likeable mixture of picaresque adventure and poetry’Sunday Times’A combination of swoony romance, swashbuckling adventure and traditional tanka verse’Daily Mail