Setouchi was eminently qualified to write this historical novel on women's liberation in Japan, which had its roots in sexual politics, socialism, and anarchism, movements in decline following the famous massacre after the Great Kanto Earthquake that devastated Tokyo and neighboring prefectures on September 1, 1923. Among those put to death in the frenzied and prejudicial aftermath of the quake was Noe Ito (1895– 1923), the heroine of Beauty in Disarray.

Was Ito a selfless "new woman" or a selfish hedonist, a rare woman ahead of her time or a mere victim of her times? Noe Ito is a complex character whom no two readers will view the same way. But all will agree that author Harumi Setouchi has created a remarkable portrait of an exceptional and unusual woman.