Memoirs of a Geisha

 Contributed by Wanda, grade 12, Sept. 2018

The novel “Memoirs of a Geisha” is a true example of rebirth, redemption and the inevitability of the destiny.

The book is the invented autobiography of an old ex-geisha with blue eyes.
She narrates of all the events, since her childhood in a poor city of Japan during the first half of 20th century, that lead her to become, for love, one of the most popular geishas of all the times.

For her full childhood and adolescence she will leave in an okiya, separated from her family, where she will try hard to manage jealousy, betrayals, envy, violence, while trying to find her place in a frivolous world of fancy kimonos, parties, dancing, men entertaining, in an unfortunate period: the Second World War.

I recommend this book for the richness of the descriptions, the psychic complexity of the characters, the breath-taking plot, and the themes.  The target audience might be grade 11 and 12 students or mature readers, because the complexity and seriousness of the themes and of the plot may not be completely understood by a particularly young audience.