Before her husband’s death, Etsuko had already learnt that jealousy is useless unless it can be controlled.
So when she arrived as a young widow at the late husband’s family farm near Osaka, Etsuko resolved to hold her emotions in check, silently tolerating the nocturnal embraces of her father-in-law as she nursed a new, secret passion. Saburo was only a simple farm hand, but she knew that her feelings for this beautiful, simple youth were the only real feelings she had. All that mattered was that she should convey their reality to him – and be answered. Jealousy, love, passion, hatred – she could control them all as long as there was hope…
But as that hope stretched thinner and thinner, Etsuko’s frustrated desire gathered a momentum that could only be checked by an unspeakable act of violence.
