Memoirs of a Geisha

In a poor fishing village in 1929, nine-year-old Chiyo is sold along with her sister and taken to Kyoto, where her striking blue-grey eyes catch the attention of an okiya in the famous Gion geisha district. Torn from her family, she must survive the cruelties of the house and the rivalry of a reigning geisha before she can begin the long, exacting training that might transform her.

Under the guidance of a legendary mentor, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, one of the most sought-after geisha of her generation, mastering an art of dance, music, conversation, and illusion in a world where a woman's heart is a luxury she can rarely afford. Through the Depression and the upheaval of the Second World War, she pursues a love she has held onto since childhood.

Arthur Golden's sweeping novel offers an intimate, richly detailed portrait of a vanished world and one woman's struggle for autonomy within it.