Memoirs of a Geisha


 

Memoirs of a Geisha is a fictional book (not actually a memoir—-which I had to keep looking up online to believe!) that follows the life of a fictional Geisha—from her being a 9 year old girl named Chiyo (whom is later called Sayuri) in a small fishing village in Japan, to the city of Kyoto, with its 5 distinct Geisha districts. It starts in 1929 when she is 9, but then her adult life revolves around the time of WWII—both before, during, and after, and the stark differences in her life due to this. I think with the plot occurring around the war, it almost reads as historical fiction in some ways—yet doesn’t get into the politics or details of the war….just more the affects on the people.  This book was SO interesting to me.  The story had me FULLY immersed, but I was also so awed by the amount of research/interviews that it took to make this accurately portray the life of Geisha as well as that specific snapshot in time.  Completely kept my attention and one of the best books I’ve read.  I’m stingy with the ratings too…but this is way up there…..a true classic…. 4.8/5 for me..???..  It’s a thick one but VERY worth it. I loved it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The yellow wife

Image
 This book is a realistic historical fiction based on some true content. Parts of it are very hard to listen to. Highlighted is definitely the ugly part of history.. The yellow wife concept is something I had no idea existed. When I think back to pre-revolutionary war, it’s kind of amazing that this happened.   I’m not sure I totally recommend the book. I definitely had to put it down several times. It did end in a mostly positive way. 
Read more

Daughter of the Reich

Image
  Highly. Recommend.  Definitely gave me similar vibes to Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale.  This story is told, however, from the perspective of the daughter to a top commanding Nazi officer, who also has his hands very deep into the paper/press/media. The official synopsis of the book is as follows (I’m copying and pasting because honestly it gives such a great overview!): She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich. But she never imagines that all she believes and knows will come into stark conflict when she encounters Walter, a Jewish friend from the past, who stirs dangerous feelings in her. Confused and conflicted, Hetty doesn’t know whom she can trust and where she can turn to, especially when she discovers that someone has been watching her. Realizing she is taking a huge risk—but unable...
Read more

Girl Last Seen

Image
 Mystery/thriller that definitely keeps you guessing !!!  I constantly wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.  As you could guess by the title it’s about two girls that go missing….13 years apart. The first girl was missing for 3 years but escapes her captor at age 13.  It’s then 10 years later where another 10 year old goes missing.  The first girl becomes obsessed with the case, and the book follows the twists and turns of a missing persons case.   Now….it was definitely good—like I said-/I wanted to constantly keep reading…yet I feel like afterwards I was still left with some questions that weren’t quite answered and nicely wrapped up with a little bow for me 🤣 That annoys me, not gonna lie.  It hey, maybe everything was answered and I was too dense to figure it all out….another very real possibility 🤣. Would still recommend!  3.8 of 5 (due to my unanswered questions) 
Read more