Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

In 1929, a nine-year-old girl named Chiyo is taken from her poor fishing village on the coast of Japan and sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district. Separated from her family and treated harshly by the house’s owners and by Hatsumomo, a beautiful but cruel geisha who sees her as a rival, Chiyo endures years of servitude and despair.

Everything changes when a kind stranger, known to her only as the Chairman, shows her a moment of compassion. Inspired by this encounter, she resolves to become a geisha, and under the guidance of the elegant and powerful Mameha, she is trained in the arts of dance, music, conversation and seduction. Renamed Sayuri, she rises to become one of the most celebrated geisha of her time, while never forgetting the man who first gave her hope.

Set against the backdrop of Japan before, during and after the Second World War, the novel portrays a hidden world of beauty, tradition, rivalry and sacrifice with vivid detail.

Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden’s debut novel, is presented as the memoir of Sayuri herself, and it became an international bestseller translated into many languages. It was adapted into an acclaimed film directed by Rob Marshall.

Lush, absorbing and emotionally powerful, it is a captivating read for lovers of historical fiction and stories of resilience and longing.