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Some of the greatest literature written in the Japanese language was produced by noblewomen in the Heian Period (794-1185 CE), when Chinese was still favored by (male) scholars and scribes. Diaries make up an important part of this period in Japanese literature, and the anonymously authored Kagero Nikki—translated here as The Gossamer Years—details the life of a noblewoman in an unhappy marriage. At the time, it was the social norm for men to have multiple wives and mistresses, and the diarist was highly dissatisfied with her status as a subsidiary wife. Through realistic expression and with an astonishing degree of frankness, she paints a revealing picture of the social hierarchy of the time, which remains of great import to historians of the period.