STEPPING ON ROSES (Hadashi de Bara o Fume), by Rinko Ueda. First published in 2007 and first published in North America in 2010.
PLOT:
Sumi Kitamura is a poor yet noble young girl growing up in the midst of the Meiji era. Her parents are dead, her brother is a hopeless gambler who keeps leaving foster kids with her, but despite her crushing poverty and large number of dependents she remains hopeful. She eventually gets so desperate that she decides to prostitute herself. Sumi is eventually 'bought' by Soichiro Ashida, who wants to marry her in the hopes of appeasing his dying grandfather to inherit a fortune. Now Sumi is bound to this cruel, demanding, arrogant young man all while she struggles to find a place in a social world far above her own. Will Sumi ever adapt to her surroundings? Will Soichiro ever come to love her? And will she ever find the mystery man who helped her in her time of need?
