Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Memoirs of a Geisha  By  cover art

Memoirs of a Geisha

By: Arthur Golden
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.23

Buy for $20.23

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

After the death of her mother, a young girl from a rural fishing village is sold to a Geisha House in the Gion District of Kyoto. Her fate continually twists, along with Japan's, before, during and after World War II.

This listen captures with great detail the lush glamour of a geisha's world, as well as the brutal realities of indentured servitude. The experience is superior to that of the movie, because each moment is mined for maximum insight. Protocols and relationships, even food and finances, are also meticulously described. The result is total immersion in this fascinating culture.

The narration may seem reserved, but that is appropriate given the book's setting. The sexual content is also very discreet and appropriate. Watching the movie is only getting your feet wet; get the full experience through this listen, a bewitching strong step into not just another time, but another world.

Publisher's summary

Nitta Sayuri tells us in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate of her life as a geisha. Her story begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion.

It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction - at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful - and completely unforgettable.

©1997 Arthur Golden; Copyright ©1998 by Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Astonishing...Breathtaking...You are seduced completely." (Washington Post Book World)
"...a bravura performance, a first novel that provides a vivid view into a largely lost and secret world." (The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review)

Featured Article: 40+ Inspirational Quotes for When You Need Some Words of Reassurance


When life gets tough or self-doubt strikes, a few words of inspiration can make an incredible difference. And who better to turn to for words of inspiration than gifted authors? In this collection of quotes from noted novelists, poets, and memoirists, you'll find the right words to lift your spirits and keep you shining. From a variety of celebrated authors, these quotes will inspire you to follow your dreams, face your fears, do what's right, and believe in yourself.

What listeners say about Memoirs of a Geisha

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,879
  • 4 Stars
    1,856
  • 3 Stars
    478
  • 2 Stars
    110
  • 1 Stars
    77
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,367
  • 4 Stars
    1,105
  • 3 Stars
    454
  • 2 Stars
    90
  • 1 Stars
    87
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,849
  • 4 Stars
    946
  • 3 Stars
    257
  • 2 Stars
    44
  • 1 Stars
    33

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing and beautiful

It is almost impossible to believe that this story was written by a man. Still, this does not mean that a man cannot appreciate the beauty and near perfection of this story. An amazing piece of literature that I believe will be one which will endure through time as one of the great books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I enjoyed this story a lot. The narration is very good and the story is a great work of literature. Some humor, suspense, and adventure this story is a narration from the point of view of a young girl as she grows up in Japan before and after WWII. There is nothing erotic in this story. The ending is very sweet.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautiful and an enchanting story

This book about a little girl that became a Geisha, is beautiful and touching. The narrating was a bit strange to start with, but enhances the story really well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Book

I wanted to read this book when it first came out in print but never got around to having the time. I was delighted to get it in audio. What pleasure, I loved it. I actually listened twice. There were some details I had missed the first time. I hated to see it end and the second listen was even better than the first.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful history

This is one of the most interesting, engrossing, sad, funny, incredibly historical book I've ever read/heard. Memoirs gives you insight into the life of a Geisha that has never been disclosed.

Beautifully narrarated, she gives the feeling of what this young Geisha was thinking and feeling. It's a shame that we will never get to meet this national treasure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Japan during war - Long love

Wonderful story of a little girl who is sold because her parents can no longer look after her. She evenually becomes a geisha in the hope to reconnect with a man that was kind to her. Throughout her life, she stands by her principles. Great story of great expectations fulfilled and resignation to what cannot be changed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book is my favorite that I've ever read.

This book is absolutely wonderful. It gives such an accurate and well researched look into the real world of the geisha all while giving you so many emotional twists and turns that you can't keep up. Memoirs of a Geisha is excellently written and utterly gripping. I recommend this book to everyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning-I couldn't stop listening

I was immediately drawn into the wonderful, gripping story!! It was so real, so vividly written, and beautifully narrated. The story line is compelling and the written is so descriptive. It is a great novel -- I loved this book. It is the best book I have listened to or read in a long time.
I also have to say that it is incredible that a man wrote this book. What a great story. I got totally lost in it. You are tempted to believe it is an actual memoir, then have to remind yourself it is a work of fiction. Amazing!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Must have

One of the best books I've ever read in my life. I enjoyed it so much and the narrator did an outstanding job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story of the cruelties and magic of life

A beautiful and moving story that has some of the most beautiful quotes I’ve ever heard. While the inspiration of the story is complicated and may be tainted in how it was obtained, the story itself is moving and has moments where the life of the main character feels very cruel and real and other moments where it feels magical, mimicking the emotions of a real person going through the highs and lows of an extraordinary life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful