Review - Akatsuki no Seika (暁の聖歌) by Yoshiya, Nobuko

吉屋信子’s 4th published book, it follows a young ちえ仔 from elementary school, through most of her time in 女学校 (post-elementary, 4 year school). The book is written in 1st person mostly, and full of some mystery and unexpected twists. While it does feature an S-relationship, unlike わすれなぐさ or the stories in 小さき花々, it’s more of a subplot than the main focus. Instead ちえ仔’s life and family circumstances, and how she understands them is the point. While some hardships do occur, this book isn’t really tinged with tragedy, the way many of her other stories are. I did find some of the resolution a bit too simple, but overall it was well done.

Overall I enjoyed it a lot, and found it very comfortable to read. I think I enjoy the ups and downs, and underlying questions in わすれなぐさ and 小さき花々 more though. Still, a good read.