The tale of Murasaki Shikibu

The modern novel was developed in 11th century Japan, where Murasaki Shikibu wrote 'The Tale of Genji'. She probably began the novel in 1001, when she was widowed, and it was finished in 1019. She was an attendant to Japan's Empress Akiko, and her novel became essential reading among Japan's upper classes, later spreading to a mass audience. There are a number of modern translations, including those of Arthur Waley, who first popularized Genji among a western readership, and Edward Seidensticker, who wrote a later and fuller version. The preferred version has become Seidensticker's.