A stunning and subtle tale of women and envy, ["Masks"] follows the convoluted life of Togano Meiko, now a sophisticated mature woman in her 50s. Years ago Meiko, unhappily married, had a lover. She bore him twins, a daughter and a son. Now her husband, her lover and her son are dead, and her life revolves around her widowed daughter-in-law, Yasuko, and her retarded daughter, Harume. Meiko's plan, a bizarre manipulation of the two women in her household, is exquisitely plotted and engineered, the product of a mind and heart embittered by loss. Fumiko Enchi writes of betrayal and sensuality, of the psychology of women, with astonishing insight and great beauty. Her allusions to the masks of No plays and to the classic "The Tale of the Genji," the brilliant way she layers and interweaves the ancient, the more recent past and the present are haunting and rich...