The War had left him a shattered man, but its toll was not nearly so great as losing the love of his life. Few understand Elliot’s anguish at losing Nadine. He came back from the War a shattered and lonely man. But his return to the Eliot family refuge on England’s Hampshire coast is gradually pushing back the dark waters of soul and spirit. Nadine and her husband have settled with their children in a wonderful old inn not far away. Surrounded by a wild and mysterious wood, the guesthouse seems to be able to mend minds and bodies. Pilgrims from the past—and new ones now finding their way to this healing comforting oasis—sweep readers into a story of intertwining destinies. Of love lost . . . and love forever gained.

Different stories of the Pilgrims' day to day adventures.

The second in the classic trilogy about the Eliots of Damerosehay. War has left David Eliot a changed man. Returning to the family home, he slowly begins to put the pieces of his life together. Tormented by the failure of her love affair with David five years earlier, Nadine has misgivings about bringing her family to live in the enchanting old inn close to the Damerosehay estate. But as the tranquil Hampshire countryside casts its spell, both families come to discover a measure of peace and contentment.

The beguiling story of the Minaguchi-ya, an ancient inn on the Tokaido Road, founded on the eve of the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Travellers and guests flow into and past the inn — warriors on the march, lovers fleeing to a new life, pilgrims on their merry expeditions, great men going to and from the capital. The story of the Minaguchi-ya is a social history of Japan through 400 years, a ringside seat to some of the most stirring events of a stirring period. ‘Statler has created a strangely beautiful book that succeeds in conveying intact not only a great deal of its history but the mood of that land. The result is sheer delight. Japanese Inn is the work of a master craftsman; it is so well conceived that the narrative moves from past to present in the same paragraph without the slightest confusion to the reader; it is so well written that only in retrospect is one aware of its remarkable flawless style. Through the author’s particular magic, the stories unfold as one narrative, as beautifully and memorably as the unrolling of a long Japanese scroll.’—CURT GENTRY ‘The reader learns much of Japan’s past — and, as is inevitable in a study of that country, of present-day Japanese as well. Mr Statler’s prose succeeds in evoking the pageantry of the past in the brilliant color of the kabuki stage. Nothing seems to have been overlooked by the author. Mr Statler’s book is Japanese history made easy, and grand entertainment.’— NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ‘Much of it is told in fictional form. Some of the episodes have come out of family annals and memories, some from the records of the temple; some are imagined; but all could have happened ... Mr Statler has told the story vividly and with sympathy. It moves. It has the authentic feel of Japan.’—INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE