A well-written, engaging story, with a good mix of interesting, well-researched information and fictional story, revolving around (as I'm sure everyone is aware) the life of a successful geisha in 1930s & 1940s Kyoto.
My one quibble: why did the author find it necessary to make Sayuri (the protagonist), a Japanese woman, have blue/gray eyes? It really wasn't necessary to the plot, and just reminded me too much of so many stories that are set in an "exotic" culture, but find it necessary to place a "Western" individual in a starring role, as if "we" wouldn't be interested in reading about a protagonist who was unlike "us." (James Clavell's "Shōgun" is one example; there are many others).
My one quibble: why did the author find it necessary to make Sayuri (the protagonist), a Japanese woman, have blue/gray eyes? It really wasn't necessary to the plot, and just reminded me too much of so many stories that are set in an "exotic" culture, but find it necessary to place a "Western" individual in a starring role, as if "we" wouldn't be interested in reading about a protagonist who was unlike "us." (James Clavell's "Shōgun" is one example; there are many others).
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