Long ago in Japan, Lily promises her dying grandmother that she will never remove the lacquered bowl the old woman placed on her head to protect her from those who would take advantage of her beauty. But Lily faces a life of hardship as a servant to a wealthy farmer whose hateful wife is determined to be rid of her. When their son falls in love with Lily, she must perform an impossible task to find her happiness, in this dramatic adaptation of a Japanese folktale.

This book is a Japanese version of the "classic" story of Cinderella. Lily is a poor girl who loses her grandmother and takes a job with a family. The wife is very cruel to her and tries to prove she is useless. With some help from the magic her grandmother left behind, she shows the husband how terrible his wife is. It starts out as a sad story with little hope but Lily gets a happy ending and marries their son. The son wants to marry her even though she never takes a bowl off her head (he doesn't know what she looks like). This is a good message of judging what's on the inside, not the outside. ( )