Laura Joh Rowland (born 1953) is an American detective/mystery author best known for her series of

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

novels featuring protagonist set in

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

Japan, mostly in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

during the late 17th century. She is also the author of two other historical mystery series, one featuring a fictionalized

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

, as well an ongoing series set in

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

around the time of the Jack the Ripper murders.

Early life

Laura Joh Rowland is the granddaughter of

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

and

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

immigrants. She grew up in

Harper Woods, Michigan Harper Woods is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Harper Woods borders Detroit to the north and east, roughly northeast of downtown Detroit. As of the 20 ...

and was educated at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

and a Master of Public Health. She tried a number of careers after college, including chemist, microbiologist, quality engineer with

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, and freelance illustrator, but it wasn't until she took a writing course that she found her calling.

Writer

Sano Ichirō

Rowland's best known work are the Sano Ichirō mysteries set in feudal Japan. Using as her inspiration P.D. James and

Elizabeth George Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels. She is best known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. The 21st book in the series was published in January 2022. The first 11 were ...

, Rowland set out to write a mystery novel. She had been a big fan of samurai films during her university days, and decided to set her first novel in feudal Japan because "I needed to carve out a territory for myself, and feudal Japan was wide open. It was a marriage of interest and opportunity." Rowland wrote two novels, which were rejected for publication. After finishing her third novel, she sent the manuscript to two publishers and presented a copy to a

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

editor whom she had met at a writer's conference. When all three publishers expressed interest, there was a bidding war that Random House won for $100,000. '' Shinjū'' was subsequently published by

in 1994. Her feudal Japan series, which eventually reached 16 titles, deals with the experiences of Sano Ichirō, a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

and minor official who, by the end of the first novel, becomes the trusted chief investigator for the fifth Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'',

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi was the fifth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, as well as the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.Nussbaum, Louis- ...

, and by the tenth novel, is promoted to a very high office. Throughout the stories, Sano constantly has to deal with the moral conflict of following the code of

bushido is a Samurai moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. Its origins date back to the Kamakura period, but it was formalized in the Edo period (1603–1868). There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantl ...

while serving both justice and his master, the Shogun. After his arranged marriage at the start of the fourth novel to , he also has to deal with her non-traditional attitude as she frequently involves herself in Sano's investigations. In all the novels, Sano experiences great pressure as he is faced with death if he does not fulfill his obligations to the ''shōgun'' as well. Rowland takes some literary license with known figures, creating fictionalized versions of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi,

Emperor Higashiyama , posthumously honored as , was the 113th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 東山天皇 (113)/ref> Higashiyama's reign spanned the years from 1687 through to his abdicati ...

in ''The Samurai's Wife'', and Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Objective historical details, however, are credibly accurate, although ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic F.G. Notehelfer pointed out several historical anachronisms in the first book of the series, ''Shinjū''.

Charlotte Brontë

In 2008, Rowland started a different mystery series, one that used Charlotte Brontë as the protagonist. When asked about the difficulty of focusing on such a famous historical figure, she replied, "Writing about famous people can mean challenging readers’ assumptions about them. I think a lot of readers see Charlotte Bronte as a prim church mouse who never left Haworth and never did anything but write."

A Victorian Mystery

In 2017, Rowland branched out again, this time setting a series of novels in

during the

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

murders. The protagonist of the series is a fictional photographer named Sarah Bain. According to Rowland, Bain has "inside information about the Ripper murders and personal reasons for keeping it secret."

Reception

Laura Picker, writing for ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', noted, "As with all successful historicals, Rowland's Sano novels blend painstaking research with characters whose personalities and inner struggles engage the reader. Sustaining that combination over 16 books is no mean feat, and in doing so, Rowland has earned a place alongside the best current practitioners of the subgenre." Lane Wright, reviewing the sixth Sano novel ''Black Lotus'', commented, "There is no one better at the esthetic detail than Laura Joh Rowland. She entices all the senses with her vivid, elegant and deeply observant writing. She realistically brings to life 17th century Japan from the couple who owns the noodle shop, to the jail, to the court of the inept shogun and his elderly, eccentric mother. Rowland creates an air of romance, mystery, danger and history in an exotic setting." Wright concluded, "This novel has it all: plot, genuine human characters, atmospheric setting and the subject of cults relates well to modern times." Judith Reveal reviewed the third Victorian mystery ''The Hangman's Secret'' for ''New York Journal of Books'', and thought it was "initially a slow read, primarily because owlandchose first person present tense as her point of view, and that gives the writing a staccato, clunky feel." Reveal also felt "There are times when one does not care for Rowland’s characters." Despite this, Reveal concluded, "Having said that, and in spite of the rather staccato narrative, the story itself holds water and reads well from beginning to end." ''Kirkus Reviews'' said of her 6th Victorian novel ''Garden of Sin'' "Rowland's portrait of Victorian London is so immersive that new readers will be eager to hang in and get all the narrative threads straight. Series fans will delight at the updates to the lives of her charismatic cast."

Awards

Books by Rowland have been nominated for the

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

, the Hammett Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award, and won RT Magazine's Reader's Choice Award.

Personal life

Rowland lived in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

until

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

nearly destroyed her house, but now lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with her husband Marty.Sleeve note bio on audiobook of ''The Incense Game'', Dreamscape Media, 2012

Bibliography

Sano Ichirō

# '' Shinjū'' (, 1994, Random House) # '' Bundori'' (, 1996, HarperTorch) # '' The Way of the Traitor'' (,1997, HarperTorch) # '' The Concubine's Tattoo'' (, December 1998, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Samurai's Wife'' (, May 2000, St. Martin's Press) # '' Black Lotus'' (, April 2001, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria'' (, April 2002, St. Martin's Press) # ''

The Dragon King's Palace ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (, April 2003, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Perfumed Sleeve'' (, April 2004, St. Martin's Minotaur) # '' The Assassin's Touch'' (, August 2005, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Red Chrysanthemum'' (, November 2006, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Snow Empress'' (, October 30, 2007, St. Martin's Minotaur) # '' The Fire Kimono'' (, November 11, 2008, St. Martin's Minotaur) # '' The Cloud Pavilion'' (, October 27, 2009, Minotaur Books) # '' The Ronin's Mistress'' (, September 13, 2011, Minotaur Books) # '' The Incense Game'' (, September 18, 2012, Minotaur Books) # '' The Shogun's Daughter'' (, September 17, 2013, St. Martin's Press) # '' The Iris Fan'' (, December 9, 2014, St. Martin's Press)

Annotations

* It is not known if it is intentional that the protagonist's name ''Sano Ichirō'' could be interpreted as a homage to one of Japan's most famous deductive fiction writers, , born in 1928, who uses the

pen-name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of ''Sano Yo'' ( 佐野洋). * The title of the first novel is the Romanized form of the term written in

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

as 心中, pronounced as Shinjū, which refers to a

suicide pact A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed. In England and Wales, a suicide pact is a partial defense, under section 4 of the Homicide Act ...

by a pair of lovers. * The title of the second novel is the Romanized form of the term written in

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

as ブンドリ (''bu-n-do-ri''), which means "seizing the soil of the vanquished", or simply spoils of war or

war trophy __NOTOC__ A war trophy is an item taken during warfare by an invading force. Common war trophies include flags, weapons, vehicles, and art. History In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, military victories were commemorated with a display of capt ...

Charlotte Brontë

# ''The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë''. Overlook Press; 2008. # ''Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë''. Overlook Press; 2010.

A Victorian Mystery

# ''The Ripper's Shadow: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2017. # ''A Mortal Likeness: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2018. # ''The Hangman's Secret: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2019. # ''The Woman in the Veil: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2020. # ''Portrait of Peril: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2021. # ''Garden of Sins: A Victorian Mystery''. Crooked Lane Books; 2022.

References

External links

Laura Joh Rowland's Official Web Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Laura Joh American mystery writers American historical novelists Writers of historical mysteries Living people University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni American writers of Chinese descent American writers of Korean descent 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Michigan American women mystery writers American women historical novelists American women writers of Chinese descent Year of birth missing (living people) University of Michigan School of Public Health alumni Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period