Mitsuki Katsura, a Japanese woman in her mid-50s, is a French-language instructor at a private university in Tokyo. Her husband, whom she met in Paris, is a professor at another private university. He is having an affair with a much younger woman. In addition to her husband's infidelity, Mitsuki must deal with her ailing 80-something mother, a demanding, self-absorbed woman who is far from the image of the patient, self-sacrificing Japanese matriarch. Mitsuki finds herself guiltily dreaming of the day when her mother will finally pass on. While doing everything she can to ensure her mother's happiness, she grows weary of the responsibilities of being a doting daughter and worries she is sacrificing her chance to find fulfillment in her middle age.

Flashbacks and multilayered stories reveal the life of Taro, a relentlessly ambitious Japanese immigrant trying to make his fortune. These flashbacks include memories of an impoverished upbringing as an orphan, his eventual rise to wealth and success --- despite racial and class prejudice --- and an obsession with a girl from an affluent family that has haunted him all his life. A TRUE NOVEL then widens into an examination of Japan’s westernization and the emergence of a middle class.