Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel
by Golden, Arthur
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Like New/n/a
- ISBN 10
- 067697175X
- ISBN 13
- 9780676971750
- Seller
-
London, Ontario, Canada
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel by Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first-person view, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II.
Reviews
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, is a warm, happy read. It is the story of a Japanese girl whose father sells her and her sister to strangers as her mother dies. Her older sister is sold into prostitution, and our heroine, Chiyo, only nine years old at the time, is sold to a geisha household in Kyoto, and expected to become a geisha. We discover that, at this time, becoming a geisha requires years of schooling. Chiyo studies various instruments, singing, dancing, and the tea ceremony, so that she can become an entertainer of men in tea houses. Eventually, she is adopted as a “younger sister” by Mameha, a first-rank geisha. All of this occurs before the Great Depression and the Second World War. During that terrible period, everyone in Japan underwent great hardships. The geisha profession was legally abolished. Chiyo, by now known by her geisha name of Sayuri, spent the war years sewing parachutes in a former kimono maker’s home and shop. After the war, she eventually was able to return to her geisha life. The story of her success, largely guided by Mameha, and her own desire to become worthy of a man she has fallen in love with, is very endearing. Somewhat to our surprise, she eventually comes to live in the USA, along with her lover. We suspect, although we are never told outright, that she has an American son. She tells her story verbally over a period of months to a sympathetic writer. This is a hard book to put down; the action is so real, and the writing so lyrical, that we feel we must keep reading until we know the end.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Nastasi & Associates (CA)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- an1068
- Title
- Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel
- Author
- Golden, Arthur
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- New Like New
- Jacket Condition
- n/a
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 067697175X
- ISBN 13
- 9780676971750
- Publisher
- Vintage Canada
- Place of Publication
- USA
- Date Published
- 1999
- Keywords
- geisha, memoirs, historical novel
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