-
Geisha, a Life
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Entertainment & Celebrities
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $17.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
The Woman in the White Kimono
- By: Ana Johns
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1957. Seventeen-year-old Naoko Nakamura’s prearranged marriage to the son of her father’s business associate would secure her family’s status in their traditional Japanese community, but Naoko has fallen for another man - an American sailor, a gaijin - and to marry him would bring great shame upon her entire family. When it’s learned Naoko carries the sailor’s child, she’s cast out in disgrace and forced to make unimaginable choices with consequences that will ripple across generations.
-
-
Lovely story but narrator annoying
- By Nancy San Jose, CA on 08-04-19
By: Ana Johns
-
Shanghai Girls
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, 21-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different, but both are beautiful, modern, and carefree...until the day their father tells them he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
-
-
Touching, sad, and enjoyable
- By Beach Biker on 07-15-09
By: Lisa See
-
Threads of Silk
- By: Amanda Roberts
- Narrated by: Leanne Yau
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in the middle of nowhere, Yaqian, a little embroidery girl from Hunan Province, finds her way to the imperial court, a place of intrigue, desire, and treachery. From the bed of an Emperor, the heart of a Prince, and the right side of an Empress, Yaqian weaves her way through the most turbulent decades of China's history and witnesses the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
-
-
Absolutely wonderful story !
- By Margaret on 09-14-17
By: Amanda Roberts
-
The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
-
A lovely book
- By kara-karina on 07-04-16
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
Imperial Woman
- The Story of the Last Empress of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last empress in China. In this audiobook, Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rules during a time of intense turbulence. Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of 17 to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort.
-
-
China - a new look
- By Paul on 07-29-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
The Woman in the White Kimono
- By: Ana Johns
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Lauren Ezzo
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1957. Seventeen-year-old Naoko Nakamura’s prearranged marriage to the son of her father’s business associate would secure her family’s status in their traditional Japanese community, but Naoko has fallen for another man - an American sailor, a gaijin - and to marry him would bring great shame upon her entire family. When it’s learned Naoko carries the sailor’s child, she’s cast out in disgrace and forced to make unimaginable choices with consequences that will ripple across generations.
-
-
Lovely story but narrator annoying
- By Nancy San Jose, CA on 08-04-19
By: Ana Johns
-
Shanghai Girls
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business, 21-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister, May, are having the time of their lives. Though both sisters wave off authority and tradition, they couldn’t be more different, but both are beautiful, modern, and carefree...until the day their father tells them he has gambled away their wealth and that in order to repay his debts, he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from California to find Chinese brides.
-
-
Touching, sad, and enjoyable
- By Beach Biker on 07-15-09
By: Lisa See
-
Threads of Silk
- By: Amanda Roberts
- Narrated by: Leanne Yau
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in the middle of nowhere, Yaqian, a little embroidery girl from Hunan Province, finds her way to the imperial court, a place of intrigue, desire, and treachery. From the bed of an Emperor, the heart of a Prince, and the right side of an Empress, Yaqian weaves her way through the most turbulent decades of China's history and witnesses the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
-
-
Absolutely wonderful story !
- By Margaret on 09-14-17
By: Amanda Roberts
-
The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
-
A lovely book
- By kara-karina on 07-04-16
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
Imperial Woman
- The Story of the Last Empress of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 17 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of Tzu Hsi is the story of the last empress in China. In this audiobook, Pearl S. Buck recreates the life of one of the most intriguing rules during a time of intense turbulence. Tzu Hsi was born into one of the lowly ranks of the Imperial dynasty. According to custom, she moved to the Forbidden City at the age of 17 to become one of hundreds of concubines. But her singular beauty and powers of manipulation quickly moved her into the position of Second Consort.
-
-
China - a new look
- By Paul on 07-29-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
-
A fascinating glimpse into a special relationship
- By Sandra on 01-11-09
By: Lisa See
-
Dreams of Joy
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her beloved New York Times best sellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed 19-year-old daughter, Joy.
-
-
Must read sequel
- By Deborah Buskirk on 02-08-13
By: Lisa See
-
Empress of Bright Moon
- A Novel of Empress Wu
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. Young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
-
An epic masterpiece
- By Art C. on 09-02-19
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
The Spirit of the Dragon
- By: William Andrews
- Narrated by: Janet Song, Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the urging of a Los Angeles detective, international rights lawyer Anna Carlson assists in a murder investigation. It’s a personal request from Suk-bo Yi, a ninety-nine-year-old woman questioned in a mysterious death at a Koreatown nursing home. A stranger to Anna, Suk-bo has a tale to tell. For reasons of her own, she’s chosen Anna - only Anna - to hear it...
-
-
As Good As Daughters of the Dragon
- By Laurie on 06-14-20
By: William Andrews
-
The Red Chamber
- By: Pauline A. Chen
- Narrated by: Grayce Wey
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When orphaned Daiyu leaves her home in the provinces to take shelter with her cousins in the Capital, she is drawn into a world of opulent splendor, presided over by the ruthless, scheming Xifeng and the prim, repressed Baochai. As she learns the secrets behind their glittering facades, she finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue and hidden passions, reaching from the petty gossip of the servants' quarters all the way to the Imperial Palace.
-
-
Good Story
- By Patti on 07-18-14
By: Pauline A. Chen
-
Empress Dowager Cixi
- The Concubine Who Launched Modern China
- By: Jung Chang
- Narrated by: Jolene Kim
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor's numerous concubines. When he died in 1861, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China - behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.
-
-
Very Important if flawed history of a leader
- By Heidi on 01-09-14
By: Jung Chang
-
Peony in Love
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage.
-
-
Eloquently written and read
- By D on 07-21-07
By: Lisa See
-
Dark Star
- A Biography of Vivien Leigh
- By: Alan Strachan
- Narrated by: Alasdair Buchan
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivien Leigh was perhaps the most iconic actress of the 20th century. As Scarlett O’Hara and Blanche Du Bois she took on some of the most pivotal roles in cinema history. Yet she was also a talented theatre actress with West End and Broadway plaudits to her name. In this ground-breaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new full-life portrait of Leigh, covering both her professional and personal life.
-
-
So much more to this actress and kind friend
- By Slimer on 10-19-20
By: Alan Strachan
-
Empress Orchid
- By: Anchee Min
- Narrated by: Alexandra O'Karma
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen-year-old Orchid belongs to an aristocratic family that has fallen on hard times. Unexpectedly, she is chosen as one of the emperor's lesser concubines. Within the Forbidden City are thousands of women hoping to bear the emperor a son and become his empress. Orchid, determined and resourceful, schemes her way into the royal bed and seduces the emperor. But as the opium trade erodes the might of the Ch'ing dynasty, Orchid find herself at the center of a crumbling nation.
-
-
WONDERFUL
- By Deborah on 11-07-06
By: Anchee Min
-
Daughters of the Dragon
- A Comfort Woman's Story
- By: William Andrews
- Narrated by: Valerie Gilbert
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During World War II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or "comfort women" for their soldiers. This is one woman’s riveting story of strength, courage, and promises kept. In 1943, the Japanese tear young Ja-hee and her sister from their peaceful family farm to be comfort women for the Imperial Army. Before they leave home, their mother gives them a magnificent antique comb with an ivory inlay of a two-headed dragon, saying it will protect them.
-
-
Great book! Don't like the narrator
- By Julie Krugman on 02-03-15
By: William Andrews
-
Peony
- A Novel of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Peony is sold into a rich Chinese household as a bondmaid - an awkward role in which she is more a servant, but less a daughter. As she grows into a lovely, provocative young woman, Peony falls in love with the family's only son. However, tradition forbids them to wed. How she resolves her love for him and her devotion to her adoptive family unfolds in this profound tale, based on true events in China over a century ago.
-
-
Jews in China - unexpected and quite interesting
- By D. Evans on 08-12-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
On Gold Mountain
- The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out of the stories heard in her childhood in Los Angeles's Chinatown and years of research, See has constructed this sweeping chronicle of her Chinese-American family, a work that takes in stories of racism and romance, entrepreneurial genius and domestic heartache, secret marriages and sibling rivalries, in a powerful history of two cultures meeting in a new world.
-
-
Great story...awful narration
- By Solbakken on 06-02-17
By: Lisa See
Publisher's Summary
Celebrated as the most successful geisha of her generation, Mineko Iwasaki was only 5 years old when she left her parents' home for the world of the geisha. For the next 25 years, she would live a life filled with extraordinary professional demands and rich rewards. Through great pride and determination, she would be hailed as one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, and one of the last great practitioners of this now fading art form.
In Geisha, a Life, Mineko Iwasaki tells her story, from her warm early childhood, to her intense yet privileged upbringing in the Iwasaki okiya (household), to her years as a renowned geisha, and finally, to her decision at the age of 29 to retire and marry, a move that would mirror the demise of geisha culture. Mineko brings to life the beauty and wonder of Gion Kobu, a place that "existed in a world apart, a special realm whose mission and identity depended on preserving the time-honored traditions of the past."
Geisha, a Life is the first of its kind, as it delicately unfolds the fabric of a geisha's development. Told with great wisdom and sensitivity, it is a true story of beauty and heroism, and of a time and culture rarely revealed to the Western world.
More from the same
What listeners say about Geisha, a Life
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Megan
- 03-07-20
Beautifully written. Great narration.
This is how her story was suppose to be written. I'm glad she finally has her true story recorded.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs. B from AZ
- 08-16-20
Very Meh for me
I read Memoirs of a Geisha maybe once a year. When I found out that Arthur Golden based his story off of this woman, I thought awesome. This must be amazing. It fell short for me. I can tolerate a bad reader if the book is good, but the material was only made worse for me by the reader. I found The way Mineko described her life as too good be true in certain parts and also found it very hard to like her as a character. It was nice to hear the background and understand some of intricacies of the secret world of geisha but it just didn’t grab hold of you attention and make it impossible to stop the way Memoirs of a Geisha does. I guess that’s the difference between a novel and non fiction.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Luis C.
- 07-26-20
Simply a masterpiece
I was so please with the detail and elegance Mrs Iwasaki told the good and bad moments of her life. The story of a declining rich and glorious culture which certainly the world would miss. Definitely this book is a must-read for whoever wants to know what it really is to be a Geisha.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-04-20
absolutely stunning and revealing wonderfully read
i came here from memoires and left educated and uplifed i encourage all who have read memoires and watched the film to please consider this book
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jamie Bogert
- 05-13-20
Wonderful story
The narration was a little flat but perhaps that is how it’s intended to be.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cynthia L.W. Saxton
- 04-21-20
Story +, narrator-
narrator's voice modulations..annoying. Great story! worth a second listen, since I have the time to do so.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- The Jan Jan
- 04-14-20
Enjoyable, but surprisingly boring
Don't get me wrong, I loved hearing Mineko-san's story. But the way she tells it, her whole career as a geiko was so full of working and dancing that it was almost uninteresting. I have heard that geiko are not very open about "revealing their secrets," so this book was a big deal since it was the first time that anyone has openly expressed this world to the public. This narrative makes me wonder why the community surrounding geiko is such a secretive society. If it is all as squeaky-clean and high-dignity as she says, why is the flower and willow world veiled in so much mystery? Maybe I'm just another foreigner who doesn't get it. But, nonetheless, I really enjoyed hearing the life experiences from a real, accomplished geiko and Cindy Kay did a great job narrating. Thanks, Audible.