Book Overview

Memoirs Of A Geisha is told by Sayuri who is the main character. Although her real name is Chiyo Sakamoto, Sayuri is her Geisha name which is similar to a stage name. Right away she tells her story, explaining what her family is like and where she comes from. Sayuri explains that she was born in a small village called Yoroido located on the Sea of Japan. She admits that she's never told anyone about her family, the village she comes from and especially how she came about becoming a geisha. She goes on to clarify her unusual appearance. She had the same peculiar translucent grey eyes as her mother. Minoru Sakamoto - who is Sayuri's father and is a fisherman currently - was married many yeas ago to a woman named Natsu and had a son named Jinichiro and a child named Masao who had all passed away. Satsu is then introduced. Satsu is Sayuri's Older sister - older by six years - and while Sayuri reassembles her mother, Satsu was much like their father. Satsu had the advantage over Sayuri because she was the older sister, she could do things that Sayuri could not. Once at the age of seven, Sayuri's mother grew very ill with bone cancer (she didn't know that at the time though). Following after this A doctor by the name of Dr. Miura explains to Sayuri and her father that her mother may only have a few more weeks to live....

While I still have more to read this book is very interesting so far and I look forward to finding out what happens to Sayuri/Chiyo's mother!

~Rafeena S.