In the crossroads of East and West, survival comes at a cost
Thomas A. Glover—also known as Kuraba Tomisaburo—was born into a life of privilege. The son of a pioneering Scottish trader and a Japanese mother, he grows up in Ipponmatsu, his father’s grand home in Nagasaki, one of Japan’s most international cities once the country opens its doors to trade.
After studying in America, Thomas returns with Agnes Easter, a young mixed-race woman who becomes housekeeper at Ipponmatsu. As Japan prospers, so do they—Agnes finds love, marries, and raises a family while navigating the delicate balance between tradition and the expatriate community.
But as nationalism tightens its grip, those of mixed heritage are shunned, and Thomas and Agnes find themselves marked as enemies of the state. In a nation that no longer welcomes them, their bond—and their wits—may be the only things that can keep them alive.

Praise for The Twain

“The Twain accomplishes true magic, transporting us completely into the complex world of pre-war Japan, filled with long-vanished sights, scents, and spirits. Alice Stephens writes beautifully, and her talents are on full display as she spins the tragic yet hopeful story of Agnes and her family. This memorable novel permeates the reader, leaving an indelible impression of a woman and her time.”

—Carrie Callaghan, author of A Light of Her Own

“The obvious care that Alice Stephens has put into The Twain’s staggering historical context is only surpassed by her precise and tender portrayal of setting and character. Her beautiful command of language makes economic use of the smallest details, conveying intense feeling with a few words. The Twain is a nuanced study of loyalty, identity, and longing, and a perceptive rendering of lives spent seeking acceptance and what it might take to understand one another. Stephens immerses her readers in her vibrant depiction of Imperial Japan, but The Twain is also a deeply empathetic story for the present, an urgent and relevant read in these increasingly divisive times.”

—Elaine U. Cho, author of Ocean’s Godori and The Final Death of Namjoo Han

“The Twain: A Tale of Nagasaki is an immersive, gorgeously observant novel which gives a close-up view of Japan’s insular society in the years before and during World War II. Alice Stephens gives us the story of Agnes, an American orphan of mixed heritage, who in the late 1800s has the opportunity to serve as a housekeeper to a Nagasaki family, and eventually finds herself as a witness to one of the most horrific moments in history. But she is more than a witness, as an outsider, like the butler in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, we are drawn into her life and her story, in all its complexities, in all its joy and sorrows. Most of all, The Twain: A Tale of Nagasaki is a story of yearning—for a place in the world amid racism, classism, and custom—for love and understanding—a yearning brilliantly woven through this historical novel of grand and intimate proportions.”

—Caroline Bock, author of The Other Beautiful People

“I was mesmerized by The Twain—Alice Stephens’s epic historical novel, told in stunning prose. Born in America, Mary Agnes Easter is an orphaned teenager when Thomas Glover, or Tommy-san, hires her as his head housekeeper in Nagasaki. Both are of mixed race—“creatures of intermingled blood”—but only he wields the power, influence, and wealth in prewar Japan. Yet Agnes, defiant and resilient, proves herself to be the stronger of the two. This story spans both their lifetimes, as their complicated relationship—marked by Agnes’s loyalty and conflict—unfolds through war and its unimaginable aftermath. I could not put it down.”

—Susan Ito, author of I Would Meet You Anywhere