|
Ellen Isaacs | |
|
This book tells the story of a woman who was sold as a girl to an okiya in pre-WWII Japan to be raised as a geisha. It is told from the perspective of the geisha as an old woman as she looks back on her life. It describes in fascinating detail the life of a geisha, from student to novice to full geisha, including such details as makeup application, styles of kimono, and, more intriguing, the politics of establishing status and position. This book is an excellent example of what I look for in historical fiction. Until reading this book, I had little knowledge of or interest in the life of geisha during this period, and yet the book made the topic compelling. Sayuri is a complex, sympathetic character, and through her adventures, we learn about the culture, the values, and the social rules of her time, as well as the details of daily living. The characters seem believable even though they operate by different social conventions. Even the style of writing rang true to me as the syntax of someone who doesn't speak English as a first language. As a bonus, I also felt I learned something about the art of triumphing over an enemy without fighting them head on.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
