It took me a while to finish reading this book because I was indulging myself word per word. This book isn’t the type of novel you should rush through. Regardless, the fact it is wrong in some places, like the part where Arthur Golden mentioned about the “mizuage”, the book pulled you in like a few other books could do. Plus it took me a while to actually pick up this book and I must admit I did watch the movie first, then read it, cause I don’t want to be disappointed with the movie. The book itself is way better than the movie.

The book centers on a first view perspective of a geisha named, Nitta Saiyuri, who was born with the name Chiyo. Originally daughter of a fisherman from small fishing village of Yoroido, Chiyo and her sister, Satsu; was sold off to Kyoto, one to an Okiya and another off to a brothel. Chiyo’s early life in Gion was pretty much mostly hellish due to Hatsumomo (初桃), because she saw Chiyo’s potential of being a successful geisha. There she befriends another of a girl around her age nicknamed Pumpkin (おカボ). In the okiya she also met Mrs. Nitta, or “Mother”, and Granny, the mistresses of the okiya, then there’s also Auntie.

One day, she met a man that would change her point of life, the Chairman, and another geisha named Mameha (豆葉), who in fact is Hatsumomo’s rival in Gion, who would trained Chiyo into a very popular geisha. Chiyo became Saiyuri and search for the man who leads her into becoming a geisha. Then time really came and they met, but Saiyuri doesn’t seem to get the opportunity to get his attention quite the way she wanted.