'I can identify the exact moment when things began to change. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just turned three.' Emerging shyly from her hiding place, Mineko encounters Madam Oima, the formidable proprietress of a prolific geisha house in Gion. Madam Oima is mesmerized by the child's black hair and black eyes: she has found her successor. And so Mineko is gently, but firmly, prised away from her parents to embark on an extraordinary career, of which she will become the best. But even if you are exquisitely beautiful and the darling of the okiya, the life of a geisha is one of gruelling professional demands. And Mineko must first contend with her bitterly jealous sister who is determined to sabotage her success . . . Captivating and poignant, GEISHA OF GION tells of Mineko's ascendancy to fame and her ultimate decision to leave the profession she found so constricting.
- ISBN10 0754019276
- ISBN13 9780754019275
- Publish Date 1 August 2003 (first published 7 October 2002)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 4 November 2010
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher AudioGO Limited
- Imprint Chivers Large print (Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & C
- Edition Large type / large print edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 474
- Language English