<DIV><p>Praised for its epic scope and descriptive detail, <b>Across the Nightingale Floor</b>, the first book of the Tales of the Otori, was an international bestseller and critical success, named by the London <b>Times</b> as "the most compelling novel to have been published this year." With <b>Grass for His Pillow</b>, Book Two of the Tales of the Otori, we return to the medieval Japan of Hearn's creation&#151a land of harsh beauty and deceptive appearances.</p> <p>In a complex social hierarchy, amid dissembling clans and fractured allegiances, there is no place for passionate young love. The orphan Takeo has been condemned to work as an assassin&#151an enforced occupation that his father sacrificed his own life to escape. Meanwhile, Takeo's beloved Shirakawa Kaede, heir to the Murayama and alone in the world, must find a way to unify the domain she has inherited, as she fights off the advances of would-be suitors and hopes against fading hope that Takeo will return to her...</p> </div>