#35 Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Black lacquered hair. White face.Red lips fixed in a knowing smile.  We have all seen pictures of the beautiful geisha. But what lies behind the make-up?  This book gives an intimate portrait of one geisha’s heartbreaking journey.

 Chiyo Sakamoto’s father sells her into an okiyo, a geisha house, where her unusual grey eyes attract the jealousy of the top geisha, Hatsumomo.  The two women fight it out with bitter gossip in the tea-houses of Kyoto, until Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the city’s most celebrated geisha. But her success does not buy her the freedom to follow her heart.  In the world of the geisha, love is the luxury that costs too much.