In After the Banquet, Mishima draws a portrait of a marriage in which
lofty principles clash fatally with appetite and ambition. For years
Kazu has run her fashionable restaurant with a combination of charm and
shrewdness. But when the middle-aged entrepreneur falls in love with one
of her clients, an aristocratic retired politician, she renounces her
business in order to become his wife. In time, however, Kazu decides to
resurrect her husband's political career. She embarks on a series of
compromises and evasions that will force her to choose between her
marriage and the demands of her irrepressible vitality.
"Kazu is the biggest and the most profound thing Mishima has done so far
in an already distinguished career."--The New Yorker