Recommended by Anna Davies
I’m always fascinated by how childhood, adolescence and the transition to the workforce is viewed in different cultures, and I’ve wanted to read Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha for quite some time. I picked up my copy for two pounds at an Oxfam shop while abroad, and finally had some time to read over break. I wasn’t expecting as much background information about the lives of the characters as I was given, but it ended up making the novel more engaging as the action progressed. I also loved the inclusion of how WWII changed the geisha industry. The struggles of Sayuri (nee Chiyo) and her ultimate triumph in an exclusively female industry was as emotional as it is educational for the reader. It was a great exploration of what femininity is defined as and what it means in other countries, too.