Her two older sisters were born in Boston; the family didn't stay there long, however, moving to Washington, D.C., and then back to China. Her father eventually landed a job at an American university, and the family immigrated to the United States. Because of the constant moving about, Namioka "never felt like I really belonged" to any one place.
Career Path Changes
Forsaking mathematics, Namioka took a different career path when she turned to translating work for the American Mathematical Society, as well as her mother's book, How to Order and Eat in Chinese. This became Namioka's launching pad for her own writing career. Her debut novel, The Samurai and the Long-Nosed Devils, is set in sixteenth-century Japan and introduces Konishi Zenta and Ishihara Matsuzo, who would become the protagonists in a series of her books. They are unemployed samurai warriors, or ronin, who wander the countryside to find work. Zenta, the wise mentor, stands in contrast to his protege, the brash young Matsuzo. When they gain employment as the bodyguards of Portuguese missionaries, they must solve a murder mystery to save their employers. As their investigation progresses, the two ronin find themselves enmeshed in a web of political intrigue.
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