The Commoner by John Burnham Schwartz is the selection for the Tuesday, January 12 meeting of the book discussion club at the Bergen County YJCC. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m., facilitated by Sharry Friedberg.

The Commoner is a novel based on a true story. In 1957, the Japanese crown prince, Akihito, met a beautiful young woman, Michiko Shoda, on a tennis court. She became the first commoner to marry into the imperial family. Despised by her mother-in-law as an upstart and interloper, Michiko eventually succumbed to a depression so intense that she temporarily lost the ability to speak. A generation later, her eldest son, Prince Naruhito, also fell in love with a commoner — again with dreadful results. “Out of this heart-wrenching history, Schwartz has woven a delicate, elegiac tale, intensely moving and utterly convincing,” read the review in the NY Times.

Book discussion group meetings are free for YJCC members; $5 for the general public. For more information, contact Jill Brown, (201) 666-6610, ext. 222 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it